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 Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual
General Desc:
Mealy, covered in white powder; leaves smooth with 1 or 2 teeth near base, oval to traingular; with somewhat ball-shaped flower clusters in spikes; outer wall of fruit seeds, slightly whitened. Plant can easily be identified by the smell of dead fish.
Identification notes: Plant covered by meal-like powder; stems erect or ascending, branched from base; leaves aromatic; blade broadly rounded-triangular to kite-like or oval; dense compact cluster of flowers in terminal, lateral spikes; white achene seed, coarsely honeycombed.
Height:
1/2 to 2-1/2 feet
Habitat Description: Dry soils. Woods and shrublands of various types, erosion breaks in grasslands, volcanic rocks, pinyon and juniper, sagebrush, disturbed ground, old mine areas, roadsides.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 1000 - 7000 feet
Color:
Whitish, yellow
Shape:
Inconspicuous in elongated clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Mar - Sep
Description:
Flowers are in large, ball-like clusters that are arranged in terminal and lateral spikes, 5-1/2 to 9 inches long by 1 inch wide; dense mealy sepals and petals cover the seed at maturity.
Leaf Color:
Grayish-green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Triangular
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Erect simple to branched stems are covered with mealy particles; alternate, stalked leaves round to triangular in shape, mealy, grayish-green, at least on the underside; blades smooth, 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches long.
Fruit Color: Whitish
Fruit Type: Achene
Fruit Notes: Achenes fruit, oval, outer wall (pericarp) clinging to surface, whitish, honeycombed.
Seed Notes: Seeds somewhat rounded, 1/8 inch diameter.
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