Fallugia paradoxa – Apache Plume

Fallugia paradoxa - Apache Plume (flower)

Fallugia paradoxa - Apache Plume (seeds)

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Fallugia paradoxa

Common Name: Apache Plume

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial, Evergreen

Growth Habit: Shrub

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Upland, Mountain. It grows in dry, sunny locations.

Flower Color: White

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer

Height: To 6 feet (1.8 m) tall

Description: The wild rose-like flowers have 5 petals and are 2 inches (5 cm) wide. The flowers are followed by dense, fluffy clusters of pinkish green, feathery seeds that fade to white as they mature. The leaves are small, alternate to clustered, fuzzy, and have 3 to 7 pinnate lobes and rolled under edges.

The similar Stansbury Cliffrose (Purshia stansburiana) has smaller flowers and fewer feathery seed plumes.

Special Characteristics

Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies and native bees.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae – Rose family
Genus: Fallugia Endl. – Apache plume
Species: Fallugia paradoxa (D. Don) Endl. ex Torr. – Apache plume

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map