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 Leaves Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual Similar Species: Boerhavia wrightii
General Desc:
Annual herb up to 2 feet tall, from a soft or woody taproot; stems erect or ascending, unbranched on small plants and branched 1 to 4 times throughout on larger plants; covered with short, soft, gland-tipped hairs.
Identification notes: Annual; flowers in compact heads on densely hairy, glandular, sticky towards the tip branches; petals absent; flower bracts petal-like fused into funnel-shape, whitish to pale pink or purple; fruits 5-ribbed, rarely hairy, ribs angled, may be wing-like.
Height:
Up to 2 feet
Habitat Description: Found on limestone or sandy soils, in open arid grasslands, or among shrubs, oaks, pinyon pines, chapparal, or junipers.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland
Elevation: 700 - 6000 feet
Color:
Whitish to pale pink or purple
Shape:
Regular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Jul - Sep
Description:
Small dense clusters at branch tips, arranged on 1 to 4 unequally branched stems, covered with gland-tipped hairs; petal-like sepals 1/8 to 3/16 inch long, fused into a funnel-shape, whitish to pale pink or purple; petals absent.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Lobed
Leaf Attachment:
Opposite
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaf stems 1/16 to 3/4 inch long; blades oval to lance-like, 3/8 to 1-1/2 inches long, 3/16 to 3/4 inch wide, with wavy or curled margins; upper surfaces usually studded with dark cells, especially leaves near base; leaf undersides usually paler.
Fruit Color: Yellowish-brown, grayish-brown
Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: Achenes in clusters of 3 to 9, 1/16 to 1/8 inch long and 1/16 inch wide, broadly oval with a round blunt tip and 5 smooth longitudinal ribs. Straw-colored (yellowish-brown) or grayish-tan (light brown).
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