''Mohavea confertiflora'', the ghost flower, is a plant of the family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

. It is a native of 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 ...

, southern

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 ...

, and three states of northwest

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

.Jepson
. accessed 10.20.2011 It is found growing in the arid conditions of the

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 ...

and the

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 ...

(including

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 ...

), below in elevation. It also grows in those deserts'

sky island Sky islands are topographic isolation, isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated montane ecosystems, hi ...

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 ...

Description

''Mohavea confertiflora'' flowers March to April. This flower, which does not produce nectar, has adapted a morphology resembling the flower '' Mentzelia involucrata'', which often grows in the same habitat. ''Mentzelia involucrata'' produces nectar to attract female bees of the genus '' Xeralictus''. In areas where their ranges overlap, ''Mohavea confertifolia'' attracts the same pollinators to its flowers through floral

mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...

: ''Mohavea'' flowers contain marks that resemble female ''Xeralictus''; these marks operate as a sign stimulus to the male bee, which enters the flower and in doing so pollinates the ''Mohavea''.entmuseum.ucr.edu: bug spotlight - images-pages/33
/ref>

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
Plantaginaceae Flora of Arizona Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of Baja California Flora of Baja California Sur Flora of Sonora Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Plantaginaceae-stub