Brownplume Wirelettuce
Stephanomeria pauciflora
Family: Asteraceae
Wirey perennial growing up to 1.5’ high and wide with deep-seated rhizomes. Lavender-pink flowers April through October.
Full to part sun, moderate water with good drainage, hardy to about 0°F.
Larval food plant for many moth species including the brown hooded owlet moth (Cucullia convexipennis), and the tiger moth (Arctia caja).
Used to increase mother's milk supply; as a narcotic; and chewed as gum; also used ceremonially.
Stephanomeria is derived from Greek stephane, wreath or crown, and meros, division, referring to the pappus on the achenes; pauciflora means with little foliage. There are 17 species of Stephanomeria native to North America.
Photo by Liz Makings, SEINET
Stephanomeria pauciflora on iNaturalist
Found along washes, on gravelly bajadas, plains, and arid mesas, below 7,000 ft. in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma south into Mexico.
Detail of the flower, photo by Radha Veach, iNaturalist
A wild pink variant in Jalisco, Mexico. Photo by Emmanuel Guevara Lazcano
Plants are often found in canyons and rocky soils in the mountains, this plant in Grant County, New Mexico. Photo by Nathan Taylor