Spiny Caper

Description

Oxystylis lutea, General: Spiny Caper (Oxystylis lutea) is an upright annual forb with 3-part leaves. The compact bundles of flowers are yellow and borne in the leaf axils. Spiny Caper is a rare component of desert vegetation communities on sandy and gravely alkaline soils. Around Las Vegas, look for this species in the bottom of Death Valley, the only place it grows. Leaves: Compound, palmate, leaflets 3; blades to about 3 inches, elliptical, entire. Flowers: Heads occur in leaf axils, forming tight ball of flowers to about 1-inch diameter, sessile.