Plant Name
Scientific Name: Gomphrena caespitosa
Synonym: Gomphrena viridis
Common Name: Tufted Globe Amaranth
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Upland, Mountain. It is typically found growing in oak-juniper woodlands.
Flower Color: Creamy white floral bracts (the actual flowers are inconspicuously tiny and either yellow or white)
Flowering Season: Spring
Height: To 6 inches (15 cm) tall, but often less
Description: The tiny, yellow to white, tubular, 5-lobed flowers are surrounded by stiff, straw-like, cream-colored bracts in rounded flower heads up to 2/3 inch (1.7 cm) in diameter. The leaves are oblong or egg-shaped and densely covered in grayish white hair. The plants are very low-growing.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Caryophyllidae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae – Amaranth family
Genus: Gomphrena L. – globe amaranth
Species: Gomphrena caespitosa Torr. – tufted globe amaranth
More About This Plant