Tripterocalyx micranthus
Encyclopedia
Tripterocalyx micranthus is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family
known by the common name smallflower sand-verbena. It is native to North America, where it is known from southern Alberta
and Saskatchewan
through a section of the central United States toward the desert southwest in California
, Arizona
, and New Mexico
. It can be found in several types of habitat, including sandy and scrubby desert regions and sagebrush
. It is erect and branched but generally compact, its hairy, glandular stem reaching a maximum length near 60 centimeters. The stem is red in color and sticky in texture. Each leaf has a fleshy, hairy green blade up to 6 centimeters long which is borne on a long petiole
. The inflorescence
is a head of several elongated flowers borne on long, glandular pedicels
all attached at the small central receptacle. Each trumpet-shaped pink or green-tinged flower may be up to 1.8 centimeters in length and up to half a centimeter wide at the face of the corolla, with 4 or 5 lobes. The fruit has wide, thin, net-veined or ribbed wings extending from a central body.
Nyctaginaceae
Nyctaginaceae, the Four O'Clock Family, is a family of around 33 genera and 290 species of flowering plants, widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions, with a few representatives in temperate regions...
known by the common name smallflower sand-verbena. It is native to North America, where it is known from southern Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
through a section of the central United States toward the desert southwest in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. It can be found in several types of habitat, including sandy and scrubby desert regions and sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
. It is erect and branched but generally compact, its hairy, glandular stem reaching a maximum length near 60 centimeters. The stem is red in color and sticky in texture. Each leaf has a fleshy, hairy green blade up to 6 centimeters long which is borne on a long petiole
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a head of several elongated flowers borne on long, glandular pedicels
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
all attached at the small central receptacle. Each trumpet-shaped pink or green-tinged flower may be up to 1.8 centimeters in length and up to half a centimeter wide at the face of the corolla, with 4 or 5 lobes. The fruit has wide, thin, net-veined or ribbed wings extending from a central body.