Perityle saxicola is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family

Asteraceae

The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

 known by the common names Roosevelt Dam rockdaisy and Fish Creek rockdaisy. It is endemic to Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 in the United States, where it occurs in Tonto National Monument

Tonto National Monument

Tonto National Monument is a National Monument in central Arizona, United States. The area lies on the northeastern edge of the Sonoran Desert, which is generally arid land with annual rainfall of about 16 inches here...

 near the Roosevelt Dam

Theodore Roosevelt Dam

Theodore Roosevelt Dam is a dam on the Salt River located northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. The dam is high and forms Theodore Roosevelt Lake as it impounds the Salt River. Originally built between 1905 and 1911, the dam was renovated and expanded in 1989-1996. The dam is named after then-President...

.

This perennial herb or subshrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 grows 20 to 40 centimeters tall. The narrow-lobed leaf blades are borne on petioles

Petiole (botany)

In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...

 up to 3 centimeters long. The flower heads contain several yellow ray florets each about half a centimeter long and many yellow disc florets in the middle.

The plant grows in dry, rocky canyon

Canyon

A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...

 habitat, anchoring in rock cracks and crevices.

Threats to the survival of the plant include blasting

Rock blasting

Rock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...

 and aphid

Aphid

Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...

damage.