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 Leaves Frankie Coburn @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Frankie Coburn @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual
General Desc:
Branched from base and sprawls on the ground with ascending outer branches; all parts of the plant, especially seedhead, covered with cottony white hairs.
Identification notes: Annual; much branched at the base, stems slender; leaves opposite, pointed, thin, lance-like; flowers perfect, in spikes, white cottony tufts; flower bracts dark tipped, unite into a hardened tube that enclose the fruit, somewhat spiny winged in fruit.
Height:
8 to 20 inches
Habitat Description: Open plains, rocky hillsides, roadsides, waste ground, and railroad ballast.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 4500 - 5500 feet
Color:
White
Shape:
Regular not in clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Jun - Sep
Description:
Seedhead is 2 inch woolly spike with flowers in 3-rowed spirals; tiny individual flowers wrapped in thick, white, cottony hairs; brownish sepals; buds are enclosed by dark, hairless bracteoles (protective coverings).
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Opposite
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Opposite, thin, simple; lance-like to oval narrowing to a slender point at tip and wedge-shaped at base; smooth margins; to 2 inches long and 1/3 inch wide; blades on short stalks, leaf surfaces slightly woolly, more woolly below.
Fruit Notes: Thin and bladder-like seed vessel, 1-seeded fruit; not open at maturity; 1/4 inch long and 1/4 inch wide wide, somewhat spiny lateral wings; fruits are within the tubes formed by the stalk-like portion on the stamen.
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