Stephanomeria pauciflora – “Skeleton Plant”

Also Known As: Prairie Skeletonplant, Few-Flowered Wirelettuce, Brownplume Wirelettuce, Parish’s Wire Lettuce, Wirelettuce, Desert Straw
Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae)
Bloom Period: Mar-Nov
Form: Perennial subshrub
Habitat: Sandy soils
Leaves: Basal and ephemeral, scale-like on upper stems
Translation: “Stephanomeria” is a compound form of the Greek word for “crown” and “division” (as in “a part”) and how that applies to this genus is not clear; “pauciflora” is Latin for “few flowers.”
Notes: Common name is fitting since the plant appears as dead and bleached-out as old bones until the flowers appear.
Native American Uses: The Kawaiisu, Kayenta and Ramah chewed the plant’s thick sap or roots like gum. The Hopi used it as a galactagogue (to increase milk production in nursing mothers), the Kayenta as a narcotic, and the Ramah as an all-around health tonic and to encourage delivery of the placenta after childbirth. The Kayenta also used it as a paint for ceremonial chant arrows.
Animal Associations: Seeds eaten by the White-Tailed Antelope Ground Squirrel. Host plant for Kodiosoma fulvum moth.