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 Leaves and flowers Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual Similar Species: C. micrantha
General Desc:
Slender stems are much branched at base and above, spreading horizontally, then becoming upright; brownish; plant covered with stiff, straight hairs; roots rarely reddish-purple.
Identification notes: Slender-stemmed, much-branched, bristly, mostly decending with tips ascending; flowers white, in 1-sided spikes, curl like a scorpion tail; sepals not bent; nutlets 4, roughened, dark, 1 larger, covered in bumps, style extends beyond the nutlet.
Height:
2 to 12 inches
Habitat Description: Found in gravelly or rocky soil on hillsides, along washes, creosote desert communities, desert woodlands, and on disturbed soil below 4,000 feet.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 4000 feet
Color:
White
Shape:
Regular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Feb - Jun
Description:
White, numerous short, paired, 2-rowed, scorpioid spikes (like a scorpion's tail), these elongating in fruit; flower gradually widens outward from base, shaped like a funnel with yellow appendages; covered with rough, stiff, spreading hairs.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Basal and alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Stalkless leaves up to 1-1/2 inches long, clustered at the base and scattered alternately along slender stems; the hairs on the leaves and stems are rough and stiff and have a bulb-like attachment at the base.
Fruit Color: Brown or pale gray
Fruit Type: Nutlet
Fruit Notes: 4 nutlets, usually brown or pale gray, covered with bumps; 1 nutlet larger than others; style (female flower part) from the ovary usually surpassing all nutlets in length.
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