Desert Chicory...

The desert chicory (Rafinesquia neomexicana) is a member of the sunflower family (Asteraceae), and is quite common in many places in the Anza Borrego desert. We saw them yesterday on every stop we made down on the desert floor, including in the lower reaches of the Oriflamme Canyon.

Sometimes you can find a splash of white across the desert floor, comprised of hundreds of desert chicory blooms. But my favorite display of them is when a solitary plant shows its cheerful little blossom in some out-of-the-way, unlikely, hostile-looking place. The desert chicory strikes me as a plucky little fighter that's happy to go live where most other plants fail...