|
|
 Leaves Tony Frates @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plants Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Fruit Tony Frates @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | |
|
Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Biennial or perennial
General Desc:
Grows from a taproot and sometimes a woody base. Stems usually several, erect to ascending, often branched above the base. Herbage may or may not be hairy; pungent, watery sap.
Identification notes: Short, spreading, rounded form; wider than tall. Leaves near base divided into several toothed lobes, leaves further up on the stem shorter and often undivided. Distinctive small, round, flat seed pods and small white 4-petaled flowers.
Height:
1-1/2 to 27-1/2 inches
Habitat Description: Found in pinyon juniper woodlands, sagebrush and other shrub communities, rocky hillsides and crevices, spring seepages, washes, gypseous grounds, sandstone cliffs, limestone gravel, playas, knolls, gumbo hills, sandy areas, alkaline flats.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian
Elevation: 3000 - 7500 feet
Color:
White
Shape:
Regular in round clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Apr - Sep
Description:
Small white flowers in terminal congested flower heads that are much-elongated in fruit; sepals 4, oblong to broadly ovate, <1/16 inch long; petals 4 in a cross formation.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Pinnatifid
Leaf Margin:
Toothed
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Basal leaves form distinct rosettes on stems to 2-3/4 inches long; leaves alternate, short-stemmed or without a stem; blades 1 to 2-1/2 inches long, rarely undivided; lobe margins entire or toothed with points directed outward. Herbage may be hairy.
Fruit Type: Pod
Fruit Notes: Seed pods ovate to nearly round, rarely oblong, 1/16 to 1/4 inch wide, with a small notch at the tip.
Seed Notes: Oblong, 1/16 inch long.
|
|
