Lappula occidentalis

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Lappula occidentalis
Lappula redowskii var redowskii 8.jpg
Lappula redowskii var. redowskii flowers
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Lappula
Species:
L. occidentalis
Binomial name
Lappula occidentalis
Greene. (1901) [2]

Lappula occidentalis, also known as flatspine stickseed, [3] flatspine sheepburr, [4] western stickseed, [5] Lappula redowskii, [6] or Redowski's stickseed, [5] is a biennial forb native to North America and parts of Europe and Asia. It belongs to the family Boraginaceae. [7] Variants include L. redowskii var. cupulata and L. redowskii var. redowskii, which differ in fruit morphology from the type specimen. [5] [7]

Contents

Description

Fruits of Lappula occidentalis Lappula redowskii - flatspine stickseed - Flickr - Matt Lavin.jpg
Fruits of Lappula occidentalis

Flatspine stickseed is a flowering herb that reproduces by fruiting. The fruits are divided into four nutlets that have a single row of velcro-like prickles along their edges. [5] The stem is erect, angled, covered in fine hairs that may be appressed to spreading, 5 to 40 cm in height, and may be simple or branched in morphology. [7] [8] Leaves are simple, alternately arranged, with edges that are entire. Both basal and stem leaves are present. Basal leaves are mostly oblong with a rounded tip and tend to wither by flowering time. Leaves along the stem are narrowly lance-oblong and may reach 2 inches long while remaining up to about ¼ inch wide. Stem leaves may lie flat or become folded, are pointed at the tip while rounded at the base, appear stalkless, and diminish in size as they ascend the stem. [5] The flowers of the flatspine sheepburr are blue to purple, radially symmetrical, and arranged in racemes that may extend from 2 to 8 inches as they mature. Each flower is approximately 1/8 inches in diameter, surrounded by five sepals, and is fused near the base. [4] The flowers alternate with bracts along the stem. Bracts, sepals, stalks, and leaves are similarly covered in fine hairs that range from appressed to spreading. [5]

Uses

Western stickseed was used by the Navajo for ceremonial, gynecological, and dermatological purposes. [9]

Distribution

Lappula occidentalis is native to North America and polar regions of Europe and Asia. [5] It may be found in disturbed habitats such as roadsides and along railways. [4] Due to the nature of the fruit of the flatspine stickseed, animals such as sheep may aid in the spread of the forb to habitats disturbed by livestock. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Anemone occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Anemone occidentalis, the white pasqueflower or western pasqueflower, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Other authorities place it in the genus Pulsatilla. Individuals are 10–60 cm (3.9–23.6 in) tall, from caudices, with three to six leaves at the base of the plant that are 3-foliolate, each leaflet pinnatifid to dissected in shape. Leaf petioles are 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long. Leaves have villous hairs and their margins are pinnatifid or dissected. Plants flower briefly mid-spring to mid-summer, usually soon after the ground is exposed by melting snow. The flowers are composed of five to seven sepals, normally white or soft purple, also mixed white and blueish purple, one flower per stem. The sepals are 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) long and 10–17 mm (0.39–0.67 in) wide. Flowers have 150–200 stamens. The fruit occurs in heads rounded to subcylindric in shape, with pedicels 15–20 cm (5.9–7.9 in) long. The achenes are ellipsoid in shape, not winged, covered with villous hairs, with beaks curved that reflex as they age and 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long, feather-like. Generally, the fruit persists into fall.

<i>Athysanus pusillus</i> Species of flowering plant

Athysanus is a monotypic genus whose only species is Athysanus pusillus, the common sandweed.

<i>Draba albertina</i> Species of flowering plant

Draba albertina is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known as the Arc dome draba,slender draba or slender whitlow-grass.

<i>Ericameria nana</i> Species of plant

Ericameria nana is a North American species of flowering shrub in the family Asteraceae known by the common names dwarf goldenbush and rubberweed. It is native to the western United States from eastern California, southeastern Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and southwestern Montana.

Litaneutria skinneri, commonly known as the Skinner's ground mantis, is a species of praying mantis found in the south-western United States. It is also found in western and central Montana.

<i>Lappula squarrosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Lappula squarrosa is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by several common names, including European stickseed, bur forget-me-not, bluebur, and bristly sheepbur. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it is common, and it is an introduced species in much of North America and Africa. It is well known as a noxious weed where it is naturalized and also in many parts of its native range. This is an annual herb producing an erect stem often with sprays of many long, bending branches, its form varying in different regions and climates. The plant may approach a meter in height. The stems are lined with linear to oval leaves up to 5 centimeters long and coated in whitish hairs, and the herbage emits a scent generally considered unpleasant. The inflorescence is a long, leafy raceme of tiny flowers near the ends of the branches. Each flower is 2 to 4 millimeters wide with five light blue corolla lobes. White-flowered plants are occasionally seen. The fruit is a cluster of four nutlets which are coated in hooked prickles. The seeds are dispersed when the prickles get caught on animal coats and human clothing, and when they are moved by wind.

<i>Nitrophila occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Nitrophila occidentalis is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaranthaceae known by the common name boraxweed and sometimes western niterwort. It is native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where it can be found in habitat with moist alkaline soils, such as salt pans. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing decumbent or erect stems up to about 30 centimeters tall. The stems have paired branches lined with oppositely arranged, fleshy, linear or oblong green leaves up to 1.6 centimeters in length. Flowers occur in the leaf axils, alone or in clusters of up to 3, accompanied by small bracts. The flower lacks petals but has five pointed sepals 1 or 2 millimeters long which are white or pink in color, fading white with age.

<i>Ranunculus uncinatus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus uncinatus is a species of buttercup known by the common names woodland buttercup and little buttercup. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to New Mexico, where it grows in wet, wooded habitat such as forest streambanks.

<i>Allium geyeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Allium geyeri or Geyer's Onion is a North American species of onion widespread in the western United States and in western Canada. It is found in the Rocky Mountain States from New Mexico to Idaho, Great Basin, the Pacific Northwest, Texas, South Dakota, Arizona, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

<i>Salix wolfii</i> Species of willow

Salix wolfi, or Wolf's willow, is a species of willow native to western United States, from north-central Montana and central Oregon to northern New Mexico.

<i>Plagiomnium venustum</i> Species of moss

Plagiomnium venustum, also known as magnificent leafy moss, is a species of moss belonging to the family Mniaceae. It is found mainly in western North America along the coastal region. This moss can be identified from other members of the Plagiomnium genus by dark coloured stomata guide cells and the absence of sterile stems. It is most commonly found growing as a mat on a variety of substrate, but mainly on humus and moist soil.

<i>Asclepias stenophylla</i> Species of plant

Asclepias stenophylla is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) commonly called slimleaf milkweed and narrow-leaved green milkweed.

<i>Symphyotrichum molle</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae

Symphyotrichum molle is a species of flowering plant in the aster family (Asteraceae) endemic to the Bighorn Mountains of Montana and Wyoming in the United States. Commonly known as soft aster, it is a perennial, herbaceous plant that ranges from 30 to 60 centimeters in height.

<i>Sandbergia</i> Genus of flowering plant

Sandbergia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Brassicaceae. They are also in the Boechereae Tribe.

Cryptandra intratropica is a flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect or spreading shrub with wedge-shaped to oblong or egg-shaped leaves and clusters of yellow to cream-coloured, tube-shaped flowers arranged in head-like clusters.

Cryptandra minutifolia is a flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a spreading shrub with oblong to elliptic leaves and clusters of white or pink, tube-shaped flowers.

<i>Conostephium preissii</i> Species of flowering plant

Conostephium preissii is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with many stems, egg-shaped to oblong leaves and white and purplish to reddish-pink flowers.

<i>Oxytropis splendens</i>

Oxytropis splendens, commonly known as showy locoweed, is a flowering perennial in the legume family. It is native to Canada, Alaska, several Great Plains states, and parts of the Mountain West.

<i>Impatiens aurella</i> Species of flowering plant

Impatiens aurella, also known as the Idaho jewelweed, mountain jewelweed, varied jewelweed, or pale yellow touch-me-not, is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae. It is found in northwest North America up through British Columbia, Canada. It produces a yellow-orange flower during the blooming months of late June/early July through September. The plant is an annual herb that grows to just over 1 m tall. As a member of the genus Impatiens it is also a touch-me-not, a herbaceous plant that has a ripe seed capsule that will explode. The flowers are considered toxic, and should not be ingested. Once cultivated, the plant has medicinal properties to help in the treatment of warts, ringworm, nettle stings, and poison ivy rash. Additional research suggests yellow dye and shampoo for itchy scalps may be possible from this species.

References

  1. NatureServe (2023). "Lappula occidentalis". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  2. "Lappula occidentalis (S.Watson) Greene". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 Seefeldt, Steven. S.; Leytem, April B. (2011). "Sheep Bedding in the Centennial Mountains of Montana and Idaho: Effects on Vegetation". Western North American Naturalist. 71 (3): 361–373. doi:10.3398/064.071.0304. ISSN   1527-0904. S2CID   58943844.
  4. 1 2 3 "Lappula occidentalis (flat-spined sheepburr): Go Botany". gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Lappula occidentalis (Western Stickseed): Minnesota Wildflowers". www.minnesotawildflowers.info. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
  6. Webmaster, David Ratz. "Flatspine Stickseed - Montana Field Guide". fieldguide.mt.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
  7. 1 2 3 Webmaster, David Ratz. "Flatspine Stickseed - Montana Field Guide". fieldguide.mt.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
  8. Webmaster, David Ratz. "Flatspine Stickseed - Montana Field Guide". fieldguide.mt.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
  9. "Native American medicinal plants: an ethnobotanical dictionary". Choice Reviews Online. 47 (8): 47–4170-47-4170. 2010-04-01. doi:10.5860/choice.47-4170. ISSN   0009-4978.