Gaillardia pinnatifida, Red-dome Blanket Flower is the name of this strikingly colored wildflower with its deep red disk and lemon yellow petals. This specimen was photographed near sunset just off the caprock in Floyd county, Texas.

Red-dome Blanket Flowers produce leaves mainly at the base of the plant and their margins are lobed in such a way that they appear to be pinnately compound. This condition is called pinnatifid and it is reflected in their species name.

Red-dome Blanket Flowers bloom from March through October and prefer sandy or clay soils in arid grassland or scrub-land throughout the southwestern U. S. and parts of Mexico. The large central disk, the 3-lobed petals of the ray flowers and its pinnatifid leaves are the distinctive characters of this species.

Follow the link below to read another of my posts about a close but flashier cousin of this species called Gaillardia pulchella or Indian Blanket.

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