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Sun on the Hillside: Mule Ears are bright yellow perennials
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Posted by editor Mon Jan 7, 2008 12:23:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments It is still far too early to tell, but our winter is off to a wet start and if the storms continue into spring, local wildflowers may reward us with their color and beauty. One species that is especially bright and noticeable is Mule Ears.

These native wildflowers were given their common name in the 1800s by explorers and settlers who observed the similarity between the plant’s long tapering leaves and the long ears of a mule. The genus was named Wyethia after Nathaniel Wyeth, an eastern merchant who funded explorations of the West.

There are at least six different species of Wyethia in California and they are all known as Mule Ears. In our area there are two species: Colville’s Mule Ears (Wyethia invenusta) and Southern Mule Ears (Wyethia ovata).

These interesting perennials form long-lived colonies on sunny slopes — often very steep hillsides — with a spreading raft of their long leaves. From these clusters of leaves arise large yellow sunflower-like blossoms on stems that are only about a foot long.

These bright yellow beauties actually consist of two types of flowers: ray flowers that are arranged like petals around the center, and tiny tubular flowers that arise from the central flowerhead itself.

The long leaves that inspired Mule Ears’ common name was the source of a much earlier name given to them by a much earlier people: the Nüwa (Kawaiisu) Indian people of this area referred to them as Tuhui-nagavi or “Deer Ears.”

Mule Ears are a good choice for wildflower gardens, since they are both hardy perennials and reliable bloomers. As well-adapted as they are to our climate, it is surprising that they are not more common in local gardens and nurseries. It seems to be intrinsic to human nature that people will buy plants from a continent away to put in their garden while ignoring beautiful plants that already thrive in their area.

But for those willing to hike or ride or even drive around in the hills and mountains in springtime, there will be patches of bright sunshine in the form of Mule Ears colonies growing on our slopes.

Have a good week.

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