Growth Form:Forb/herb, subshrub; plants with many upright slender branched stems; herbage generally rough with stiff (strigose) or soft straight hairs (villous).
Leaves: Light green or greenish-gray; leaf blade and shape variable; lower leaves pinnately lobed, upper leaves narrow and without lobes and without dentition; leaf surfaces with stiff hairs (strigose) or covered with long, soft straight hairs (villous) which are sometimes dense and white (canescent).
Flowering Season: March or April to October; April through June in Texas
Elevation: 2,900 to 7,000 feet (900-2,134 m)
Habitat Preferences: Upper desert scrub, sunny open clearings in pine forests, pinyon-juniper, grasslands, mesas, disturbed areas, plains, sandy or clay soils.
Recorded Range: South-central to southwestern United States; AZ, CO, NM, NV, OK, TX and UT. Also native to northern and central Mexico in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Sonora. Largest populations in the southwest are in Arizona and New Mexico; there are also very good populations in southern Utah, southern Colorado and west Teas.
North America species range map for Red Dome Blanketflower, Gaillardia pinnatifida:
North American range map courtesy of Virginia Tech, Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation
Click image for full size map
Genus Information: In North America there are 12 species and 22 accepted taxa overall for Gaillardia. Worldwide, The Plant List includes 24 accepted species names and a further 43 scientific names of infraspecific rank for the genus.
The genus Gaillardia was published in 1788 by French plant physiologist, archaeologist, and naturalist Auguste Denis Fougeroux de Bondaroy.
In the Southwestern United States: Arizona has 6 species of genus, California has 2 species, Nevada has 3 species, New Mexico has 4 species, Texas has 7 species, Utah has 6 species. Data approximate and subject to revision.
There are 2 varieties in Gaillardia pinnatifida;
Gaillardia pinnatifida var. linearis, Red Dome Blanketflower (AZ, NM, TX)
Gaillardia pinnatifida var. pinnatifida, Red Dome Blanketflower (AZ, CO, NM, NV, OK, TX, UT).
Comments: Red Dome Blanketflower is a showy plant and highly variable across its wide range. In Arizona it is usually found at elevations above 3,500 feet and often along roadsides.
The genus Gaillardia as a whole are generally referred to as the blanket flowers and many attract insects especially butterflies. Gaillardia typically produce single (solitary) flower heads in a variety of colors including yellow, orange, red, purplish, brown, white, or even bicolored.
Flowers and plants of the genus Gaillardia may be visited by hummingbirds and/or small mammals in search of food, nectar or cover.
Special Value to Native bees, Butterflies and Insects
Gaillardia species are used as food plants by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including Schinia bina which has been recorded on Gaillardia pulchella and Schinia volupia which feeds exclusively on Gaillardia pulchella.
