Semi-desert. Openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, March 27, 2005.

From a distance Thelypodiopsis aurea might be taken for Stanleya pinnata but up close the two are distinct.  Blooming time also helps to separate the two: T. aurea blooms early in March and April, S. pinnata in May and June.  Both plants like growing in selenium rich soils and this plant especially reeks from the selenium.  T. aurea grows to three feet tall, its leaves are sage green with basal leaves in a large mound, and its bright yellow tubular flowers with four flared petals are subtended by four bright yellow sepals, the narrow structures that can be seen projecting upward at about a 45 degree angle from the bottom  of the floral tube in the photograph immediately below.

Semi-desert. Openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, March 27, 2005.

Per Axel Rydberg named this genus in 1907 putting into it several species that had previously been incorrectly placed in the  Thelypodium genus.  "Thelypodiopsis" means "resembling a small Thelypodium".  Thelypodiopsis aurea (Latin for "golden") was first collected by Alice Eastwood in Mancos, Colorado in 1891 and named Thelypodium aureum by her.  The plant is endemic to three of the  Four Corners states: Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

Semi-desert. Openings. Spring.
McElmo Canyon, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, April 27, 2005.

Long, wavy seed pods on short pedicels end the growing season.