Queen's-root
Stillingia linearifolia
Observed at Joshua Tree National Monument, California. 30 April 2010.
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RANGE: Found along washes and canyons mostly in western Arizona where it
runs into the Mojave Desert, but also in scattered locations in the Chihuahuan
Desert areas of southeastern Arizona.
PERENNIAL: The base of plant becoming woody. The plant regrows from the
crown after extended drought kills above ground portions. Height mostly less
than 50 cm.
LEAVES: The leaves are linear and alternate on the stems. The margins
are smooth.
FLOWERS: The small greenish-red flowers are separate male and female.
The female flowers occur singly on the spike and soon give rise to a
three-lobed fruit. The male flowers are minute and clustered into about three
per group and the groups arrayed along a slender spike above the female
flowers.
FRUIT: The three-sided capsules are shiny green-red and almost 4mm in
diameter.
UNARMED: No thorns, but the sap can be a skin/eye irritant.