Wyethia arizonica (Arizona Mule-Ears)
Family
ASTERACEAE
Common Name
Arizona Mule-Ears
Description
Distinguished by the leaves being lanceolate and the cauline leaves having petioles, plants with usually only one well-developed head per stem; lvs and stems strongly hirsute. Flowers are not frost hardy. (3)
Distribution
COLO: SW counties; UTAH; ARIZ: Apache, Navajo, Coconino, and Gila counties, 7,000-9,500 ft., slopes and canyons, mostly in pine forests. Colorado, Utah, and Northern New Mexico and Arizona (2); UTAH: Oak, pinyon-juniper, and ponderosa pine communities at 1430-2440 m in Grand, Kane, San Juan, Kane, and Washington counties, Colorado, NM, and AZ (5)
Conservation Considerations
NM may have peripheral populations, but this taxon is widespread in other states.
Important Literature
2: Kearney and Peebles, 1951
3: Weber, W. 1987. Colorado Flora: Western Slope. Colorado Associated University Press.
4: Weber, W.A. 1946. A taxonomic and cytological study of the genus Wyethia, family Compositae, with notes on the related genus Balsamorhiza. Amer. Midl. Nat. 35:400-452.
5. Welsh, 1993
1: Martin and Hutchins, 1981
For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico