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 Plants Shannon Mullarkey @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plants Sue Carnahan @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual Similar Species: Tillaea aquatica
General Desc:
A small, often much-branched, low-growing succulent forming dense clumps. Stems have many tiny, fleshy oval to oblong leaves which are green when young and mature to shades of red, often brownish-red. Tiny clusters of whitish flowers are difficult to see.
Identification notes: Annual; simple or bushy-branching, 3/4 to 2-1/4 inches tall; foliage succulent, ages red; leaves oval; flowers delicate, stemmed, petals 3 to 5, narrow to triangular; sepals somewhat shorter or exceed petals, tips pointed; fruits rounded, 1 or 2 seeded.
Height:
3/4 to 2-1/4 inches
Habitat Description: Sandy and gravelly soil of washes and small depressions, open areas on hillsides or flats, in rocky areas especially mossy rocks.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral
Elevation: 2500 - 4000 feet
Color:
Whitish
Shape:
Inconspicuous in clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Mar - Apr
Description:
Flowers in crowded clusters at leaf axils (between the leaf and stem), 2 per leaf pair, often with short stalks but may be stalkless, 4 leaf-like sepals are fused at the flower's base. Whitish petals less than 1/16 inch are not longer than the sepals.
Leaf Color:
Green, shades of red with age
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Round or oval
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Opposite
Leaves Clasp:
Y
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Stems are hairless, freely branching, grow upright and straight or curve upward; leaves from 1/16 to 1/4 inch long, are succulent, have an oval or oblong to egg-shaped blade and a pointy to rounded tip, leaf pairs are fused around the stem (connate).
Fruit Color: Purplish
Fruit Notes: The fruit, known as a follicle, splits only on 1 side to release the seed. Each follicle is dry, purplish, less than 1/16 inch long, egg-shaped to rounded with an upward curve and contains 1 to 2 seeds (usually 1).
Seed Notes: Each seed is less than 1/16 inch long with a narrow oval shape that is pointed at both ends. The seed's surface is dull and finely wrinkled.
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