Parietaria hespera

Herbs , annual, 0.2-5.5 dm. Stems simple or freely branched, sometimes densely matted, prostrate, decumbent, ascending, or erect. Leaf blades narrowly to very broadly ovate, oblong, orbiculate, or reniform, 0.2-4.5 × 0.2-2.7 cm, base broadly cuneate, rounded, truncate, or nearly cordate, apex acuminate, acute, obtuse, or rounded; proximal pair of lateral veins arising at junction of blade and petiole. Flowers: involucral bracts 1-4.5 mm; tepals 2-2.8 mm, shorter or longer than bracts. Achenes light brown, symmetric, 0.9-1.2 × 0.6-0.7 mm, apex obtuse, mucro apical; stipe centered, short-cylindric, basally dilated.

Plant: annual herb; Prostrate, decumbent, ascending, or erect, simple or freely branched, sometimes densely matted, 3-55 cm tall Leaves: narrowly to very broadly ovate, oblong or circular, 0.4-4.5 cm long, 0.4-2.7 cm wide, about as wide as long to longer than wide; apex attenuate, acute, obtuse or rounded; base broadly cuneate, rounded or truncate INFLORESCENCE: inflorescences of few flowered axillary cymes, the lowermost flowers usually perfect, those above pistillate Flowers: subtended by bracts ca. 1-4.5 mm long; tepals acute, loosely connivent at maturity; bracts shorter than or exceeding the tepals Fruit: ACHENES symmetrical, 0.9-1.2 mm long, 0.6-0.7 mm broad, shining, hard and bony, ovoid, stipitate, enclosed by the perianth Misc: Deserts, dry woodlands, roadsides, sand dunes, rock crevices, often in shaded and moist places Notes: stems translucent; tepals subtended by 1-3 green bracts References: David E. Boufford - Urticaceae - JANAS 26:42-49. ASU specimens

FNA Vol. 3, JANAS 26(1); Preston and Woodland 2016 (Jepson Online)

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Annual herbs with simple or freely branching stems, can be densely matted, prostrate, decumbent, or erect, herbage pubescent, stems translucent. Leaves: Variable in shape, can be narrowly or broadly ovate, oblong, or reniform, bases broadly cuneate, rounded, truncate, or cordate, the tips acuminate to rounded, with a proximal pair of lateral veins along the leaf surface, somewhat thin, bright green. Flowers: Small green flowers of 1-3 involucral bracts, borne in few-flowered cymes in leaf axils, tepals shorter or longer than the bracts. Fruits: Achenes less than 1 mm, ovoid, light brown, enclosed by the perianth. Ecology: Found in shaded and moist places in deserts, dry woodlands, rock crevices, sand dunes, and roadsides, below 4,500 ft (1372 m); flowers March to June. Distribution: CA to UT and NM; south to nw MEX Notes: The flowers for this species look similar to Salsola flowers. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011