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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:
Perennial Similar Species: Tradescantia pinetorum
General Desc:
Unusual looking mostly erect plant with exotic looking flowers that open in the morning and often wilt by noon on hot days.
Identification notes: Roots thick but not tuber-like; stem stout, glabrous; leaf sheaths glabrous; leaves long and narrow; flowers pale purple in mostly terminal clusters sometimes axillary, clusters opening from the center outward, petals broadly ovate.
Height:
To 30 inches
Habitat Description: Riparian habitats, rocky hillsides in grasslands, chaparral, oak and pine-oak forest to ponderosa pine on granitic and limestone substrate.
Plant Communities:
Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian
Elevation: 2500 - 7000 feet
Color:
Pink, purple, blue
Shape:
Regular in elongated clusters
Tubular:
N
Flowering Period:
Apr - Sep
Description:
3 (rarely 4) equal-sized petals, to 1 inch wide, in clusters of up to 10 flowers at tip of stems.
Leaf Color:
Bluish-green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Narrow
Leaf Margin:
Smooth
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
No
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Grass-like, arching, 6 to 15 inches long, 3/8 inch wide, clasping the stem at the base; each leaf has long parallel veining and is folded lengthwise forming a V-groove. Stems contain slimy sap.
Fruit Type: Capsule
Fruit Notes: Slightly more than 1/4 inch long.
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