Samolus vagans

Plants light green, stoloniferous or mat-forming, 0.2-3 dm. Stems usually prostrate or arching. Leaves often crowded near plant base, petiolate or nearly sessile; blade orbiculate to broadly spatulate, 0.5-6 cm, base decurrent, broadly cuneate (or somewhat rounded), apex obtuse. Inflorescences terminal and axillary in distal leaves, racemose, sessile or short-pedunculate; peduncle to 1.5 cm, shorter than to equaling stem. Pedicels usually spreading, bracteate, 1.4-10 mm, glabrous; bract proximal to midlength. Flowers: calyx 1-2 mm, lobes triangular-ovate, equaling or longer than tube, apex acute, not glandular; corolla white, 1-3 mm, lobes oblong, longer than tube, base glabrous, apex rounded or slightly emarginate; staminodes 5. Capsules 2-3 mm.

Flowering spring-fall. Moist to wet sandy places; of conservation concern; 1000-2000 m; Ariz.; Mexico (Durango).

Plant: perennial; 5-30 cm long with prostrate or arching stems or sometimes stoloniferous or mat-forming Leaves: cauline, 0.5-6 cm long, petiolate or nearly subsessile; blades circular, obovate or spatulate INFLORESCENCE: with leaf-like bracts on the main axis and with tiny bracts attached on lower half of the pedicels; flowers 2-10 Flowers: white; calyx 1-2.3 mm long; corolla 1-3 mm long; staminodia 5 Fruit: FRUITS valvate Misc: In or along streams, pools, or moist-wet meadows; 1050-1900 m (3500-6200 ft); May-Oct REFERENCES: Cholewa Anita F. 1992. Primulaceae. Ariz.-Nev. Acad. Sci. 26(1)2.

Cholewa 1992

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Prostrate or mat forming and stoloniferous perennial with stems 5-30 cm long, sometimes with arching stems. Leaves: Cauline, 0.5-6 cm long, petiolate to nearly subsessile, blades circular, obovate to spatulate with entire margins, widely spaced. Flowers: Inflorescence a racemose panicle with leaf-like bracts on main axis and with tiny bracts attached on lower half of pedicels, bearing 2-10 flowers; flowers white with calyx 1-2.3 mm long, with 5 lobes, corolla 1-3 mm long with 5 lobes have its length, with 5 stamodia opposite the sepals. Fruits: Valvate capsule. Ecology: Found in or along streams, seeps and springs, along with moist to wet meadows from 3,500-6,500 ft (1067-1981 m); flowers May-October. Notes: Distinguished from the common species S. valerandi subsp. parviflorus by its prostrate, mat-forming and stoloniferous habit with fewer flowers and the obovate leaves that are not crowded on the stems. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Samolus is thought to be a Latin word of Celtic origin referring to the plant-s curative power, while vagans means wandering. Editor: SBuckley, 2010