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 Leaves Sue Rutman @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Attribution-Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC) |  Plant Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Perennial
General Desc:
Trailing branches, stout taproot; stems and leaves with sparse, simple, spreading hairs, often red-brown to gray-brown. Flower clusters (cyathia), 1 single female flower and 20 to 25 male flowers in leaf axils and leaf tips, white petal-like appendages.
Identification notes: Single flower clusters in leaf axils and tips of branches; petal-like appendages white, showy, glands reddish-purple, male flowers 20 to 25; leaves 2 times longer than wide, bases asymmetrical; fruit capsules hairy; seeds oblong, circled by 4 to 5 ridges.
Height:
Trailing to 12 inches
Habitat Description: Found on sandy flats and on gentle slopes.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands
Elevation: Below 4500 feet
Color:
White, reddish-purple
Shape:
Regular in round clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Jan - Dec
Description:
Single clusters of male and female flowers (cyathia) in leaf axils, tips of stems. Male flowers 20 to 25, surround a single stalked female flower, which has white petal-like appendages, reddish-purple glands; appendages wider and longer than the glands.
Leaf Color:
Grayish-green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Opposite
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Oblong, 2 times longer than wide, short-stemmed, to 3/4 inch long, hairy to no hairs, tips pointed, margins smooth or with a few teeth; stipules (leaf-like appendage at a base of leaf) thread-like.
Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Sharply 3-angled, hairy, protruding from flower clusters and bent backwards at maturity.
Seed Notes: White, slender,oblong, 3-angled to almost round in cross section, 4 to 5 ridges encircling seeds.
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