Odora
Slender Poreleaf
Porophyllum gracile
Photographed in Black Canyon s. of Bumblebee, Yavapai Co., Arizona. Sept. 2008. The small reddish spots on the phyllaries release intense odor on being brushed.
LEAVES: The slightest brush against this plant will permeate the air
with curious aroma - pleasant or quite unpleasant depending on the observer.
Leaves are linear and grass like. They are smooth and shiny. Under
magnification (10x loop) the translucent oil glands, the odor source, can be
seen easily.
PERENNIAL: Mostly herbaceous perennial with thin wispy stems less than
one meter tall. Regrows season after season from lower woody stems
and crown.
RANGE: Frequent throughout the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico at
roadsides, on rocky slopes and along wash banks.
FRUIT: The seeds are topped with a pappus of fine bristles.
FLOWERS: The single series of phyllaries of the flower head are tall and
narrowly enclose the two dozen or so disc flowers. The flower heads do not open
wide and the florets soon fade from white, purple or pink to brownish and are
not showy. The glands on the phyllaries are conspicuous. Flowers in spring and
then again after the summer rains.
UNARMED.