Plant Name
Scientific Name: Gomphrena sonorae
Common Name: Sonoran Globe Amaranth
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert (foothills), Upland
Flower Color: White, Pink
Flowering Season: Summer (late), Fall (early)
Height: To 2 feet (61 cm) tall
Description: The rounded flower heads are 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) wide and composed of overlapping, pointed bractlets surrounding each of the tiny, inconspicuous flowers. The flower heads are clustered at both the stem nodes and stem tips. The flower heads feel like dry straw and can be used as dried flowers. The leaves are green, sessile or petiolate, opposite, point-tipped, and elliptic, oblong, oblanceolate, or linear in shape.
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 sonorae Torr. – Sonoran globe amaranth
More About This Plant