Thin upright plant (arrows) |
General: Wingnut Cryptantha (Cryptantha pterocarya) is a small, upright annual forb with hairy, linear leaves and tiny
white flowers.
Wingnut Cryptantha can be a common component of desert vegetation communities on sandy and gravel soils in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats), Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zones.
Family: Borage (Boraginaceae).
Other Names: Forget-Me-Not.
Plant Form: Thin, upright stalk with short leaves topped with white flowers and nutlets.
Height: Often about 5 inches, to about 18 inches. |
Upper, flowering portion with fruits |
Stems: Usually one, upright, rough hairy.
Leaves: To about 2-inches long, narrow; rough-hairy to bristly. Basal leaves in groups; cauline leaves generally opposite and single.
Flowers: Blooms in the spring. Inflorescence terminal. Flowers tiny, white; bell-shaped with 5 petals.
Seeds: 4 nutlets.
Habitat: Sandy to rocky desert soils.
Elevation: To about 7,000 feet.
Distribution: Western US.
Comments: |