Dwarf Morning-glory
Evolvulus arizonicus
Photographed in the New River Mountains, Maricopa Co., May 2011.
Photographed at Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., Sept. 2009.
PERENNIAL: The weak stems of dwarf morning-glory are sometimes
procumbant on the soil, but show little if any twinning. Stems may extend out
from a woody crown 10 to 20 cm and
with many stems forming a hemispherical plant.
FLOWERS: Sky-blue flowers about the diameter of a dime; the corolla limb
is nearly circular in outline with sometimes five paler radiations. Five
stamens. Flowering late spring into autumn, depending on rainfall.
LEAVES: Leaves are elliptic to lance-shaped and dark green and
considerably hirsute.
RANGE: In the Sonoran Desert in Arizona this plant occurs along the
upper elevations along the eastern tier and is distributed eastward into the
Chihuahuan Desert. Common near Tucson. It is also present in open habitats at
higher elevations such as grasslands and piñon-juniper.
FRUIT: Small, dry, spherical capsules typically with two to four seeds.
UNARMED