Linanthus demissus
species of plant
Linanthus demissus (humble gilia or desertsnow) is a small flowering plant found in the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States, from southeastern California east to Arizona and southern Utah.
Description
It is an annual plant with decumbent (creeping) growth to 2–10 cm tall with downy stems. The leaves are opposite, 6–10 mm long and 1–2 mm broad, with an acuminate apex. It has fragrant white flowers with petals that twist much like a windmill, just a few millimeters across. A key distinguishing characteristic is the pair of small purple lines or wedges at the base of each corolla lobe.
Habitat
It is inconspicuous when not in flower, and tends to blend in with gravel and rock pebbles. It is found on limestone desert pavements and in sandy washes, and can be found in large numbers around Death Valley National Park and the Mojave National Preserve south of Interstate 15.
References
Jepson Flora: Linanthus demissus
Eastern Mojave Vegetation
Stewart, J. M. (1998). Mojave Desert Wildflowers, p. 32.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Linanthus demissus” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Linanthus, demissus and species, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “species of plant” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 8, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6550247. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1998.
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This entry incorporates text from “Linanthus demissus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.