''Chorizanthe rigida'', with the common names of devil's spineflower, rigid spineflower, spiny-herb, rigid spiny-herb, is an

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

in the family

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus ''Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 ...

the

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as '' Fago ...

s. It is a member of the genus ''

Chorizanthe ''Chorizanthe'' is a genus of plants in the Polygonaceae, buckwheat family known generally as spineflowers. These are small, squat, herbaceous plants with spiny-looking inflorescences of flowers. The flowers may be in shades of red or yellow to w ...

'', the spineflowers and is found in the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

and northwest Mexico, in the states of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, and

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

Distribution

''Chorizanthe rigida'' is a common desert plant found in the Sonoran and

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

- in bajadas (washes), flat

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...

s that flood with annual rains, and rocky hillsides and ridgelines. A locale range example is its presence in most

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s of the

Muggins Mountains Wilderness The Muggins Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is located approximately east of Yuma, Arizona in the Muggins Mountains and adjacent to the agricultural ''Dome Valley'' and Gila River. The wilderness area ...

in southeastern Arizona. In desert flats, the short 3 inch plant can be easily obscured, by downstream-washed debris that easily collects on the ''spineflower'' skeleton. Thus small hillocks of debris are found, a spineflower in the core; possibly this is the advantageous form of germinating at least the source location into a second generation. In flat mesas the plant can be hidden under clumps and not seen. On a roadside, its skeleton will be left as a single erect plant, the taller plants being found in the highest water-pooled areas. In the eastern

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

the plant can be found in any major wash in mid spring following at least moderate winter rains.

Description

The ''Chorizanthe rigida'' plant, is a short, erect and sometimes single-stalked, but multi-stalked to 5 stalks or more, 2.5- in height. It grows quickly, especially following spring rains. With the onset of early summer it turns into a spine-skeleton. It has a main taproot, mostly longer than the plant is tall, taking advantage of the rainfall's ground moisture. The devil's spineflower is extremely conspicuous when growing in its bright new green; when desiccated its spiny skeleton is blackish, dark gray, or of medium browns and blends in easily to the desert background ground colors. In the hottest sections of the western

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

of southwestern Arizona the Rigid Spineflower is mostly a 2.5 to 5 inch plant and is often not noticed when the plant goes dry, (see her
(a multi-stalked short plant)
.

Gallery

Image:Chorizanthe rigida 2.jpg Image:Chorizanthe rigida 3.jpg Image:Chorizanthe rigida 5.jpg Image:Chorizanthe rigida 4.jpg

References

''Chorizanthe rigida'' synopsis at Flora of North America''Chorizanthe rigida'' at Calflora(Article: genus
''

'')

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Chorizanthe rigida''Images at the CalPhoto archive
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5105128 rigida Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Baja California Flora of Sonora Flora of the Sonoran Deserts North American desert flora Taxa named by Asa Gray Taxa named by John Torrey Flora without expected TNC conservation status