spreading stickseed (spreading hackelia)
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Thayne Tuason (Photo ID #76289)
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a taproot; stems several or sometimes single, spreading stiff-hairy on lower half, more appressed, upswept, straight-hairy above, 20-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves well-developed, persistent, stalked, oblanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 6-18 cm long and 8-25 mm wide; stem leaves ample, mostly unstalked and sometimes also clasping upward, lanceolate or lance-oblong to lance-elliptic, 5-12 cm long, 8-18 mm wide; stiff-hairy or appressed, coarsely straight-hairy, entire, alternate.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several elongating, narrow clusters with leafy bracts at the base; petals white (rarely blue), fused at base into a short, narrow tube that spreads (7-12 mm wide) at top to 5 lobes, with 5 pimply, fuzzy, yellow bulges at the throat.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, clustered together, with marginal, barb-tipped prickles distinct nearly to the base, facial prickles 8-30, much shorter than marginal ones.
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) |
1856 | 1444 | 2394 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
45 | 5 | 86 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
73 | 30 | 280 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 5 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
9 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(1), ESSF(5), MS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry grasslands, shrublands and forest openings in the steppe and lower montane zones; rare in SC BC; S to WA and OR.Status Information
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.) |