General: Bastard Toadflax (Comandra umbellata) is a desert perennial forb or subshrub that grows from rhizomes. The stems are upright, and the leaves are lanceolate, alternate, and sessile. Four- and five-part flowers are produced in cymes arising from the upper leaf axils. Fruits are small drupes (like a cherry) with persistent floral parts.

Bastard Toadflax is a fairly common component of desert vegetation communities on sandy and gravely soils in canyons and hillsides in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland), Transition (Yellow Pine Forest), Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest), Hudsonian (Bristlecone Forest) and Arctic (Alpine Tundra) life zones. Around Las Vegas, look for this species in Red Rock Canyon NCA and up in the mountains (Mt. Charleston, Sheep Range).

Family: Sandalwood (Santalaceae).

Other Names: Bastard-toadflax.

Plant Form: Perennial forb, subshrub with upright stems from rhizomes.

Height: To about 18 inches.

Stems: Mostly upright.

Leaves: Alternate, lanceolate, to about 2 inches long, tips pointed.

Flowers: Blooms during spring and early summer. Inflorescence: cyme. Flowers: Four or five white petals fused at the base; sometimes a touch of pink or brown in the flowers.

Seeds: Fruit is a small drupe (fleshy with a large seed inside). Floral parts sometimes remain attached to the end of the fruit.

Habitat: Desert washes, hillsides, canyons, and bajadas into the higher mountains.

Elevation: About 1,000 to 10,000 feet.

Distribution: Throughout North America.

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