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 Flower stalks Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Flowers Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Leaves Sue Carnahan @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial) |  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: A. torreyi
General Desc:
Annual herb, without hairs; stems erect with lateral, ascending branches, usually branched from base; main and lateral stems sparingly branched or simple.
Identification notes: Male and female flowers on the same plant. Sepals of female flowers often with fringe of hair-like or finger-like projections. Similar to A. torreyi which has shorter, often wider leaves, up to 1 inch wide; petals and sepals with smooth margins.
Height:
1 to 2-1/4 feet
Habitat Description: Mostly found in dry, sandy or gravelly slopes, washes and disturbed habitats.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 5000 feet
Color:
Green and white or pinkish
Shape:
Regular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Aug - Nov
Description:
Flowers in leaf axil clusters and in a terminal spike (unbranched). Female flower petals fan-shaped to broadly spatula-shaped, bend outward, 1/16 to 1/8 inch, margins fringed with hair-like projections. Male flowers rounded at their tips, 2 to 3 stamens.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaf stem 1/2 to 3/4 inch long. Leaves linear (narrow) or narrowly lance-like, 3/4 to 2-1/2 inches long, with narrowly straight sides converging at the base; smooth margins and a pointed tip.
Fruit Color: Black or dark reddish-brown
Fruit Notes: Utricles (small bladder-like, thin walled fruit), ovoid, length about 1-1/2 times the width, up to 1/16 inch long, shorter than petals and sepals, wrinkled to nearly smooth, opening along a transverse circular line to release seeds.
Seed Notes: Seeds nearly flat and more or less circular, lens-shaped, less than 1/16 inch in diameter; shiny and smooth.
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