blue stickseed (blue hackelia; Jessica sticktight)
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a taproot and branching base; stems several to numerous, relatively sparsely hairy with coarse, stiff-spreading and (especially upward) short, appressed, straight hairs, 0.3-1 m tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves usually well-developed, persistent, oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, stalked, 6-35 cm long and to 4 cm wide; stem leaves also well-developed, 5-20 cm long, 7-20 mm wide, the lower oblanceolate and stalked, the upper narrowly elliptic to oblong and unstalked, reduced upward, short appressed-hairy or coarsely stiff-hairy, entire, alternate.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several clusters with leafy bracts at the base, tending to be shorter, wider, and looser than that of H. floribunda; petals blue, fused at base into a short, narrow tube that spreads (5-11 mm wide) abruptly at top to 5 lobes, with 5 minutely pimply, yellow or whitish bulges.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, with marginal, barb-tipped prickles mostly distinct to the base, facial prickles several (usually 4-10), much shorter than marginal.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1694 | 510 | 2394 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
32 | 0 | 100 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
163 | 0 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
104 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(11), BG(1), ESSF(67), ICH(6), IDF(1), IMA(1), MS(14), PP(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry to mesic rocky slopes, grasslands, shrublands and forest openings in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent in C and S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to AB and S to UT and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Hackelia jessicae (McGregor) Brand
Taxonomic Keys
Key to Hackelia:
1. Flowers 1-3 mm wide; annuals or biennials........................H. deflexa 1. Flowers 4-20 mm wide, biennials or perennials. 2. Flowers white...............................................H. diffusa 2. Flowers blue. 3. Nutlets with marginal prickles only.......................................H. floribunda 3. Nutlets with central (facial) prickles in addtion to marginal ones. 4. Marginal prickles united for at least 1/3 their length, forming a cup..........................H. ciliata 4. Marginal prickles mostly distinct to base, not forming a cup................................H. micrantha Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia (Douglas et al.) |