Plant Name
Scientific Name: Zinnia grandiflora
Synonym: Crassina grandiflora
Common Names: Rocky Mountain Zinnia, Prairie Zinnia, Plains Zinnia, Texas Zinnia, Little Golden Zinnia, Yellow Zinnia
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Upland. Here in southeastern Arizona, this plant grows in sunny, open, well-drained areas in the higher elevation Chihuahuan Desert in the far southeastern corner of the state.
Flower Color: Brilliant golden yellow rays
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall. This showy wildflower blooms whenever there is sufficient moisture during the warm months of the year.
Height: Up to 9 inches (22 cm) tall
Description: The flower heads are up to 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) wide and have 3 to 6 (sometimes more) round to oval-shaped rays (petals) and reddish orange central disks. The leaves have 1 or 3 main veins and are small, linear, curved, gray-green in color, opposite, and rough-textured. The stems are greenish, well-branched, and rough-textured. The plants are low-growing and mounding in form.
The similar Desert Zinnia (Zinnia acerosa) has white 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 grandiflora Nutt. – Rocky Mountain zinnia
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