Plant Image
Plant


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Gayophytum diffusum - spreading groundsmoke

Other Common Names: bigflower groundsmoke
Plant Form: Forb or Subshrub

Family: Onagraceae


   
 
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Leaves
Liz Makings @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)
Forb Plant Description

Origin: Native   Life Cycle: Annual
General Desc: Annual, plants with or without a central stem, freely branching when well-developed, stems red; herbage smooth or sparsely hairy, taprooted; white flowers, flowers in spikes, fade to pink or red.
Identification notes: Annual, many branching, may not have a central stem; leaves narrow, alternate; flowers white fading to pink or red, in dense spikes that elongate with maturity, <1/16 inch; seeds 6 to 9 in 1 row; fruit longer than its stem, very knobby, cylindrical.
Height: 4 to 20 inches


Habitat

Habitat Description: Openings in pine forests, slopes.
Plant Communities: Montane Conifer Forest
Elevation: 6000 - 9500 feet


Flower Characteristics

Color: White, pink or red     Shape: Regular in elongated clusters     Tubular: Y     Flowering Period: Apr - Sep
Description: Densely flowered spikes elongate with age, tips often nodding; bracts below flowers, floral tube hairy, styles shorter; sepals bend downward at flowering; petals to 1/4 inch long, becoming pink or red with age, open in the morning, close by noon.


Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Leaf Color: Green     Leaf Type: Simple     Leaf Shape: Narrow     Leaf Margin: Smooth     Leaf Attachment: Alternate     Leaves Clasp: N
Hairs: No     Spines: N
Leaf Description: Stems red; leaf blades narrow to lance-like, 1-1/2 inches long, decrease somewhat in size going up the stem, margins smooth; blades without stems or short-stemmed.


Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Capsule shaped like a cylinder, to 1/2 inch long, ovaries 2-chambered, smooth or hairy; seeds generally in 1 row in each chamber, erect.
Seed Notes: 3 to 18.



  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailForb.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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