Purshia tridentata was first collected by Meriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition in July of 1806 near Lewis and Clark Pass, Montana.  Frederick Pursh named the plant Tigarea tridentata in his 1814 publication Flora Americae Septentrionalis which included much of the known Lewis and Clark botanical collection.  In 1817 the plant genus name was deemed incorrect by the eminent Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle; he created a new genus, Purshia, and renamed the plant, Purshia tridentata.   The genus name honors Frederick Pursh who was the first to receive, work on, and publish the Lewis and Clark botanical collections.  (More biographical information.)

   Purshia stansburiana was at first named Cowania stansburiana by John Torrey in 1852, was renamed Cowania mexicana by Jepson in 1925, went through a number of other name changes, and since 1986 it has retained the name Purshia stansburiana given it by Henrickson.

"Stansburiana" honors Howard Stansbury, mid-19th century surveyor, explorer, and naturalist.   In 1850 Stansbury was the first to collect this lovely shrub (on what is now Stansbury's Island in the Great Salt Lake) and John Torrey honored him in the name of the plant.  (More biographical information.)

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, shrublands, openings. Spring.
Hunter Canyon, Utah, May 3, 2005.

Cliff Rose's tiny, delicate, three-lobed, deep green leaves with minute glandular dots, have an acrid, quinine-like smell.  In most Cliff Rose habitats, leaves remain on the bush year-round, although there may be some yellowing.  Cliff Rose's leaves provide a sharp contrast to its brilliant white and yellow flowers.

Feathery seed-bearing plumes are found on a number of plants in the Southwest. See Cercocarpus montanus and Fallugia paradoxa for two other prominent examples.

Following a showy flower bloom, Purshia stansburiana puts on a second act with a myriad of twisting, feathery, fluff.

Purshia tridentata is almost as common and fragrant as Purshia stansburiana.  In its sprawling, unkempt manner, it lines long sections of road in Mesa Verde National Park and is found in abundance in many other areas of the Four Corners.  The Purshia tridentata pictured at left is typical at six feet wide and a bit over three feet tall.  (About half of the width of the shrub shows in the photograph.)  Purshia tridentata's flowers, as those of P. stansburiana, appear to be yellow because of the abundance of yellow pollen.  The petals are actually white to a creamy white.  The flowers of both are intensely, wonderfully sweet smelling.  

Notice the three lobed leaves ("tridentata").

The seed is at the base of the plume still attached to the plant.  Dried plumes and seeds are lofted by winds, when they fall they swirl because of the plume, and the seed is thus drilled slightly into the soil.