Plant Name
Scientific Name: Zinnia acerosa
Synonym: Zinnia pumila
Common Names: Desert Zinnia, Wild Zinnia, Spinyleaf Zinnia, White Zinnia
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland. It grows in sunny, open areas.
Flower Color: White
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall. This common to abundant wildflower blooms twice a year, once in the spring and then again after the summer monsoon rains have arrived.
Height: To 1 foot (30 cm) tall
Description: The flower heads are 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and have 4 to 6 broad, overlapping, white rays and small, yellow aging to brown disks. The leaves have sharp tips and are small, stiff, grayish green, opposite, and linear in shape. The plants are mounding and look like little shrubs.
The similar Rocky Mountain Zinnia (Zinnia grandiflora) has yellow flowers.
Special Characteristics
Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae – Aster family
Genus: Zinnia L. – zinnia
Species: Zinnia acerosa (DC.) A. Gray – desert zinnia
More About This Plant