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 Leaves Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual Similar Species: Boerhavia coulteri
General Desc:
Annual herb with a slender, spidery, upright stem branching from the base where most of the leaves grow. Stems and leaves have glands, soft hairs and are sticky. Small light purple to pink bell-shaped flowers grow in spike-like clusters at the stem tips.
Identification notes: Annual; very small purple to pink flower in spike-like elongated clusters; stems and leaves glandular; flower bracts persistent (remain attached), half as long as the fruit; fruits mostly 4 angled, not hairy; leaves in unequal pairs.
Height:
To nearly 2 feet
Habitat Description: Found on gravelly flats or slopes, in sandy soils among desert shrubs.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands
Elevation: Below 4000 feet
Color:
Light purple to pink
Shape:
Bell-shaped in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Jul - Sep
Description:
Loose spike-like flower clusters grow at the ends of the slim stem branches bearing a few light purple to pink flowers, each about 1/16 inch long. Beneath each flower are pinkish leaf-like bracts about 1/8 inch long which are persistent (remain attached).
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Lobed
Leaf Attachment:
Opposite
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaves 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches long, roughly pointed, oblong (lance-like) with soft hairs, rippled edges, green above, paler and dotted with clear glands beneath. Each section of the stem between successive leaves has a sticky band around it.
Fruit Color: Yellowish-brown to light brown
Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: Pyramid or club-shaped, not hairy, about 1/16 inch long and nearly as wide, with a wrinkled surface and 4 wide ribs that are sometimes winged (extend outward). The 4 to 15 fruits in each cluster are yellowish-brown (straw colored) to light-brown (tan).
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