General: Schott's Pygmycedar (Peucephyllum schottii) is an upright shrub or subtree with a stout main trunk and short, cylindrical, dark green leaves with many pits. The yellow composite flowers are formed of disk flowers only (sunflower without "petals").

Pygmycedar is a fairly common component of vegetation communities along rocky washes and rocky hillsides in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub) life zone. Occasionally it can be found in washes on desert flats, but usually below rocky canyons.

Family: Sunflower (Asteraceae).

Other Names: desert fir, pygmy cedar, pygmy-cedar

Plant Form: Upright shrub or subtree, usually with a stout main trunk.

Height: Usually 4-5 feet, to 10-feet tall.

Bark: Gray.

Stems: Leafy, green.

Leaves: Alternate, cylindrical, narrow, 1/2 to 1 inch long; thick, gland-dotted (pits), shiny.

Flowers: Blooms December to May. Flowers solitary at branch tips; disk flowers only (no ray flowers), yellow aging to red.

Seeds: Small achene (sunflower seed) with hairs attached to blow in the wind.

Habitat: Rocky slopes and rocky outcrops, sometimes in washes and on alluvial fans.

Elevation: To about 4,500 feet.

Distribution: California to Arizona, and south into northwestern Mexico.

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