Daggerpod

Daggerpod (Phoenicaulis cheiranthoides) is a neat looking plant, they have a cluster of fuzzy gray-green leaves that look as if someone came along and folded them in half.

Daggerpod Plant

Daggerpods belong to the mustard (Brassicaceae) family and have the typical four petaled flowers. The flowers are light pink, similar to the pink of a wild rose flower and they grow in a cluster (like most mustards) at the end of a long steam. The flowers tend to grow along the ground, out of the sides of the plant, forming a pretty purple halo around the cluster of leaves. The fruits, in contrast to the soft leaves, have sharp-edged blades that give it it's common name--daggerpod.

Daggerpods grow in many types of habitats, but tend to grow on rocky slopes in the sagebrush steppe. They tend to like areas that are between 5,000 and 10,000 feet in elevation, and grow throughout the Great Basin.

Daggerpod leaf