Parry's Blanketflower

Perennials, 10–35 cm. Leaves mostly basal, sometimes to mid-stems; petiolar bases 3–5+ cm; blades elliptic-obovate to ± spatulate, 3–5+ cm × 5–25 mm, margins weakly lobed or entire, faces closely puberulent. Peduncles 10–30 cm. Phyllaries 22–26+, lance-attenuate, 9–12 mm, villous with jointed hairs. Receptacular setae 2–4 mm. Ray florets 8–14; corollas yellow, 14–17+ mm. Disc florets 50–100+; corollas yellow, tubes 1–1.2 mm, throats cylindric, 4–5.5 mm, lobes ovate, 0.7–1.3 mm, jointed hairs 0.3+ mm. Cypselae ± obpyramidal, 1–2 mm, hairs 1+ mm, inserted at bases and on angles and faces; pappi of 10 ovate to lanceolate, aristate scales 5–6.5+ mm (scarious bases 3–4.5 × 1–1.2 mm). 2n = 68.

Gaillardia acaulis A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 10: 73. 1874, not Pursh 1813

Gaillardia parryi Greene, Bull. Torrey Club 24: 512. 1897
Gaillardia acaulis A. Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 10: 73. 1874. Not G. acaulis Pursh. 1814.
An acaulescent perennial, with a thick woody root and a multicipital caudex; leaves basal, crowded, petioled; petioles 1-3 cm. long; blades obovate or oval, 2-5 cm. long, thick, minutely puberulent and conspicuously punctate; scape 1-3 dm. long, puberulent; heads solitary; involucral bracts lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 6-8 mm. long, short-villous, only the tips reflexed, the bases somewhat chartaceous; fimbrillae of the receptacle subulate, shorter than the achenes; ray-flowers neutral; ligules yellow, 10-15 mm. long, deeply 3-cleft, with lanceolate divisions; disk yellow; corollas 7-8 mm. long, villous; tube minute; throat trumpet-shaped; lobes triangular; achenes densely villous throughout; squamellae about 9,. lanceolate, nearly 1 mm. wide, including the awn-tip 6 mm. long.
Type locality: Southern Utah.
Distribution: Southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Gaillardia parryi, or Parry's blanketflower, is a North American species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native to the southwestern United States (Arizona and Utah). Some of the populations are inside Grand Canyon National Park, others in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument.

Gaillardia parryi grows in clay or sandy soils in places dominated by sagebrush, pinyon pine, or yellow pine. It is an perennial herb up to 35 cm (14 in) tall, with most of the leaves clustered around the base. Each flower head is on its own flower stalk up to 30 cm (12 in) long. Each head has 8-14 yellow ray flowers surrounding sometimes as many as 100 yellow disc flowers.