Cryptantha confertiflora
Encyclopedia
Cryptantha confertiflora is a species of wildflower in the borage family
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....

 known by the common names basin yellow catseye and Mojave popcorn flower. This is a common desert plant native to the southwestern United States. It is an erect perennial herb approaching half a meter in height. The stems grow from a woody caudex
Caudex
A caudex is a form of stem morphology appearing as a thickened, short, perennial stem that is either underground or near ground level . It may be swollen for the purpose of water storage, especially in xerophytes...

 and form a rough clump of hairy, bristly gray-green leaves in dry, rocky areas. Out of the clump grow erect stems topped with dense inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

s of hairy mustard-yellow flowers. Each flower is tubular with sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s wrapped around the tube below a flat-faced or curled-back corolla of five lobes. The fruit is a nutlet
Nutlet
Nutlet may refer to one of the following.*A small nut.*In botany, a nutlet is a pyrena or pyrene, which is a seed covered by a stony layer, such as the kernel of a drupe....

3 to 4 millimeters wide.

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