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 Leaves Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  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: Cryptantha minima
General Desc:
Annual herb without rosettes of basal leaves. Numerous stems, each produces numerous tiny white flowers.
Identification notes: The 3 similar nutlets are not winged. Cryptantha minima, a very similar species, has bractlets at the bases of the flowers.
Height:
Under 6 inches
Habitat Description: Open, disturbed mesquite shrub land and grassland. Deep, fine sandy soil. Sand-sage prairie, prairie slopes, dry, sandy or silty soils.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 3500 - 6000 feet
Color:
White
Shape:
Regular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
May - Jul
Description:
Tiny white flowers are borne on an elongated stem 1 to 5 inches long. There are no bractlets at bases of flowers.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Leaves are alternate, simple, and linear to lanceolate, 1/2 to 1 inch long, 1/8 inch wide, stiff and hairy, with smooth margins. Leaf tips are pointed or rounded.
Fruit Color: Greenish
Fruit Type: Nutlet
Fruit Notes: Nutlets are covered with minute bumps, each containing a single seed. Nutlets occur in clusters of 4. One nutlet is smoother, much larger and taller than the other three.
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