Covering vast stretches of open desert with a carpet of yellow bloom
following wet winters, goldfields is an appropriately named spring
flower found at elevations below 4,500 feet. The low-growing plant
produces small but attractive blossoms on mesas and plains, March to
May, from central and southern Arizona to California, and Baja
California. Horses graze _Baeria_ avidly, but are annoyed by a small fly
that frequents the fragrant blossoms, giving the plant the name “fly
flower” in some localities.
_Baeria chrysostoma_ Sunflower Family
[Illustration: GOLDFIELDS]