Desert Dandelion

I did a post on the desert dandelion ten years ago, but find it necessary to do another one now. I just witnessed the most beautiful profusion of them that I've ever seen out in the foothills of the Orocopia Mountains off the Hayfield Rd. exit of the I-10 south of Joshua Tree NP. 

Desert dandelions and Mexican gold poppies (upper left side). 

Bigelow's monkeyflowers (pink) in the foreground with a few Mexican gold poppies and the rest are desert dandelions. 

Underneath a palo verde tree.

A more patchy smattering.

The flower is entirely ray florets, between 30 and 140 of them, with flat tips with four notches in them. They are usually yellow, but can also be white, usually on the outer edges. The center is often reddish when it begins to bloom and turns yellow when it matures. 

Four yellow flowers, but only one with a yellow center. 

All three of these have white flowers on the outside and yellow centers. 

I've amped up the clarity in Lightroom to make the florets stand out. The closeup also makes the four notches easy to see. 

I've also amped up the clarity on this photo to highlight the florets. 

There were places along the freeway where the sides and center divider were covered with them. 

These are mature flowers as none have red centers. 

Many of these have red centers. A few Mexican gold poppies are in the photo as is chia on the right side.