Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, May 13, 2004.

Perky Sue is very abundant, cheerful, and one of our favorite friends.  Its short, tight green tuft of usually hairy green leaves is quite evident in the early spring and the plant becomes even more evident when the long leafless flower stalks topped by a single bright yellow flower emerge.  It is common to find areas with dozens of plants scattered widely about as if they had been arranged by a gardener. The flower is a bright golden yellow to lemon yellow, and its dozen or so notched ray flowers stick out very straight from the central disk flowers.

There are several varieties of this species.  Perhaps the most noticeable difference is in the hairiness of the basal tuft of leaves.  I find that plants in the area of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in Colorado have very noticeably hairy basal leaves; plants in Utah Canyon Country tend to have smooth or minutely hairy basal leaves.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Corona Arch Trail, Utah, April 13, 2005.

Notice what a great difference there is between the width and length of the ray flowers on the just opened bud in the background and those on the fully mature flower in the foreground.  Many members of the Sunflower family show this contrast.  Descriptions of plants almost always give you the characteristics of the mature flower.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 28, 2006 and May 27, 2009.

Semi-desert, foothills. Woodlands, openings. Spring.
Near the Corona Arch Trail, Utah, April 1, 2006.

In this picture, the densely hairy root of Tetraneuris ivesiana has been exposed by erosion and we can see why one common name is "Woolybase".