Flatspine Stickseed
Lappula occidentalis
Observed on the slopes of Sentinel Peak (A-Mountain) in Tucson, Pima Co., Arizona, February 2012. Developing fruit and no open flowers in this image.
FRUIT:
The nutlets are surrounded by spines that turn the nutlets into a bur. The seeds
will be found in abundance in the socks of hikers that pass through the dried,
after-spring plants. These bur-seeds are small, less than 2 mm dia.
SPRING ANNUAL: Ephemeral spring annual appearing in the Sonoran Desert
late Jan. to early April depending on moisture.
FLOWERS: Small, bright-white, five-lobed flowers occurring one or two
open at a time at the top of the scorpioid spikes.
LEAVES: Elyptical leaves with conspicuous whitish hairs.
RANGE: Sporadic in the Sonoran Desert on rocky slopes and flats and
common in open semi-arid habitats across much of the western North America.