CLIFFROSE
Purshia mexicana
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Rose Family
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| One of the truly outstanding plants of our region, cliffrose is deserving of much wider use in landscapes. It combines a show-stopping early summer floral display with all-season interest. The pale yellow blossoms cover the plant in great profusion in June, and fill the air with the sweet fragrance of vanilla and cloves. The flowers are followed by shiny, feathery seed heads that add interest through the summer. The small, leathery, dark green leaves are deeply lobed and semi-evergreen. They too exude a pleasing, almost piney scent in warm sunshine. The bark of cliffrose peels off in shreds of golden-tan and deep rose. Its form when young is vaselike, but with age it becomes tall and craggy. Mature cliffrose can occasionally reach fifteen feet in height. Deer enjoy browsing this plant, so protection for young plants is a must. Cliffrose is quite drought hardy for a foothill plant and is not tolerant of overwatering. It combines well with big sagebrush, winterfat, and Fremont barberry, which have pale foliage that contrasts beautifully with its dark green leaves.
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 Cliffrose habit in garden
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 Cliffrose flowers
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 Cliffrose flowering branch
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Other names: Stansbury Cliffrose, Cowania mexicana, Cowania stansburiana, Purshia stansburiana
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