Lappula occidentalis (S. Watson) Greene var. occidentalis
western stickseed (flatspine stickseed)
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
western stickseed (flatspine stickseed)
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
Map
Distribution of Lappula occidentalis var. occidentalis
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Species Information
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
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Lappula occidentalis var. occidentalis
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)
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) |
803 | 396 | 1320 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
24 | 0 | 90 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
187 | 0 | 326 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 1 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
114 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(37), ICH(2), IDF(40), PP(26) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry to mesic roadsides, disturbed areas, grasslands and shrublands in the lowland, steppe and lower montane zones; common in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, less common northward; circumpolar, S to NM, AZ and CA; S America, Eurasia.Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Lappula echinata var. occidentalis (S. Wats.) Boivin
Lappula redowskii auct. non (Hornem.) Greene
Lappula redowskii var. desertorum (Greene) I.M. Johnston
Lappula redowskii var. occidentalis (S. Wats.) Rydb.
Lappula redowskii var. redowskii (Hornem.) Greene