Yellow cups

Description

Chylismia brevipes (Synonyms: Camissonia brevipes) is a species of wildflower native to the American desert southwest known by the common names yellow cups, Mojave suncup, and golden suncup. This is a hairy annual with tall stems often reaching over half a meter in height and surrounded by basal leaves which may be simple or composed of several leaflets. It produces an inflorescence which has one to several blooms in it. The flowers are bright yellow, often with reddish speckling at the base of each petal. The center of the flower has a long pistil and several shorter stamens with large anthers. The fruits are hanging capsules which may be several centimeters long. Camissonia, sometimes commonly known as sun cup or sundrop, is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the evening primrose family Onagraceae. A total of 12 species are known, nearly all from western North America, especially in the California Floristic Province, but also one from South America. Previous circumscriptions of the genus had recognized up to 62 species before it was split among other closely related genera. The flowers generally open at dawn and maybe yellow, white, or lavender, often with darker shades at the base. They are usually cup-shaped, thus the common name. Formerly included in Oenothera, the species of Camissonia are distinguished by having a club- or head-shaped stigma, instead of the 4-part-divided stigma of Oenothera or Clarkia. Camissonia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Schinia cupes and Schinia deserticola, both of which feed on C. claviformis, the latter exclusively. The genus is named after the botanist Adelbert von Chamisso.