Aspicarpa hirtella

Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Herbaceous perennials, stems trailing, sometimes reddish, herbage with hairs affixed at the middle (dolabriform). Leaves: Opposite, oblong-lanceolate to ovate, margins entire, sessile or borne on short petioles. Flowers: Yellow, dimorphic, some cleistogamous and without petals, the ones with petals have 5, these abruptly contracted into claws, sepals 5, these with a pair of conspicuous fleshy glands at the base, filaments stout, united at the base, cleistogamous flowers borne axillary, long-peduncled to nearly sessile, the ones with petals are in small terminal clusters. Fruits: Strongly keeled, tuberculate nutlets, borne in pairs. Ecology: Found in Southern Arizona in chaparral communities; 4,000-5,500 ft (1219-1676 m); flowering August-September. Distribution: s AZ, sw NM; south to c MEX. Notes: Distinguished by its trailing, low-growing but not vine-like habit with reddish stems; hairs attached at the middle all over; opposite oblong-lanceolate leaves; and 5 separate yellow petals with fringed margins. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Unknown Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher 2011, FSCoburn 2015