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 Leaves Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: CC BY-NC (Attribution-Non-Commercial) | | | | |
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Origin:
Native
Life Cycle:
Annual
General Desc:
Erect annual, mostly single stemmed or few-branched; leafy; minutely hairy, hairs incurved (toward stem); narrow leaves; spike-like cluster of very small blue flowers; capsules form to bottom of inflorescence and are single celled.
Identification notes: Slender erect stems, typically one, branching uncommon; leaves narrow, lance-like, pointed, alternate, smooth margined, up to 2 inches long; flowers in elongated clusters, blue, small, short-stemmed; fruit a capsule that splits open when mature, 1-celled.
Height:
Up to 20 inches
Habitat Description: Igneous, limeÂstone, gravelly, sandy, or silty loam soils, in dry to moist, open to shaded grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, disturbed areas, on open slopes and meadows at middle to upper elevations, sometimes among Ceanothus (wildBlue Pygmy-Flow lilac)
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 4000 - 7500 feet
Color:
Blue
Shape:
Irregular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
Sep - Oct
Description:
Borne in terminal, spike-like clusters, 2 to 12 inches long; small, blue flowers, 1/8 inch long, short-stalked; sepals 5, outer 3 herbaceous (leaf-like), inner 2 petal-like, larger; stamens 6 to 8, united at base to form tube, split along lower side.
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 alternate, borne on short stalks, 3/4 to 2 inches long; upper leaves narrow, lower leaves narrowly oval, tapering to a sharp point; margins smooth.
Fruit Notes: Fruit is a samara (dry, winged fruit that does not split open when mature, shape enables the wind to carry the seed farther away than regular seeds), 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and 1-celled.
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