General:
Annual herb from a taproot, short curly- or stiff-hairy (or appressed-hairy) throughout; stems simple or branched above, 5-50 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves oblanceolate, often deciduous, 2-6 cm long, to 1 cm wide; stem leaves linear or linear-oblong to oblanceolate, reduced upward to the leafy, lanceolate bracts of the inflorescence, unstalked or nearly so, entire, alternate.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of narrow, elongating clusters that have bracts throughout; flower stalks ascending to erect when in fruit; petals blue or white, fused at base into small (2-4 mm long) tube that flares a bit (1.5-2.5 mm wide) at the top to 5 lobes, with 5 yellow bulges at the throat; fruiting calyces 3-3.5 mm long, the lobes erect.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, clustered together, egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long, with a crown of marginal, barb-tipped prickles in a single row, prickles distinct or sometimes fused at the base to form a cuplike rim.
Note: Two varieties occur in BC:
1. Prickles of nutlets distinct to base; the common variety var. occidentalis
1. Prickles of nutlets fused at base, forming a cup; rare var. cupulata (A. Gray) Higgins
Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
Elevation
(metres) |
880 | 790 | 1050 |
Slope
Gradient (%) |
41 | 25 | 60 |
Aspect (degrees) |
195 | 190 | 200 |
Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
1 | 0 | 3 |
Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
#
of field plots species was recorded in: |
3 | ||
Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ICH | ||
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
ICH(1), IDF(1), PP(1) | ||
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Lappula redowskii var. cupulata (A. Gray) M.E. Jones
Lappula redowskii var. texana (Scheele) Brand
Lappula texana (Scheele) Britton
Lappula texana var. coronata (Greene) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr.
Lappula texana var. heterosperma (Greene) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr.
Lappula texana var. homosperma (A. Nelson) A. Nelson & J.F. Macbr.