Lemon’s Rubberweed

• Plant Type: Biennial, Perennial herb.
• Common Names: Lemon’s Rubberweed, Lemon’s Bitterweed, Alkali Hymenoxys.
• Color: Yellow
• Flower Dimensions: 0.6 inches wide.
• Flowering Seasons/Month: Summer (June to September).
• Desert with Lemon’s Rubberweed: Great Basin.

Hymenoxys lemmonii is a perennial herb of the Asterceae family. The plant can grow to a height of 15-20 inches.

• The leaves of the Lemon’s Rubberweed are straight and dark green. It measures 3.6 inches in length. The leaf blades are simple or lobed.
• Hymenoxys lemmonii has one or more branches (3-10). Their stem is hairless.
• The stem of the H. lemmonii is purple-red tinted proximally, or it can be green throughout.
• Lemon’s Rubberweed flowers are Daisy-like. The flower has thick golden disk florets and shaggy golden ray florets.

• The generic name Hymenoxys is from the Greek word “hymen” and “oxys“, which means “membrane” and “sharp” respectively.
• The plants of the genus Hymenoxyscontain sesquiterpene lactone hymenoxon, which is toxic to sheep. H. lemmonii^[1] is considered one of the poisonous plants in North America affecting sheep and goats.
• Scientists^[2] discovered sesquiterpene lactone aglycones and glycosides from the Hymenoxys lemmonii. It is listed as a poisonous plant^[3].
• In research^[4] conducted, only the H. lemmonii has recovered enough in high severity burn areas to support the endemic butterflies.
• The species name “lemmonii” was derived from John Gill Lemmon^[5] (1832-1908). He was the husband of Sarah Plummer Lemmon, a famous American botanist. It is estimated that 3% of Arizona’s native plants were named by this couple.