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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Spreading Alkali-weed
Cressa truxillensis HBK.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Morning-glory (Convolvulaceae)
Flowering: May-October
Field Marks: This gray-hairy, usually sprawling, herb has solitary white flowers borne in the axils of the upper leaves, with the petals and sepals about the same length.
Habitat: Moist alkaline and salty habitats.
Habit: Perennial herb with a slender taproot.
Stems: Upright or lying flat, much branched, gray-hairy, up to 8 inches long.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, oblong to ovate, up to 1/2 inch long, up to 1/3 inch wide, rounded or somewhat pointed at the tip, tapering to the usually sessile base, gray-hairy, without teeth.
Flowers: Solitary in the axils of the upper leaves, subtended by bracteoles; stalks very short to 1/3 inch long.
Sepals: 5, green, united below, hairy, 1/6-1/4 inch long, the lobes ovate.
Petals: 5, white, united below into a short tube 1/6-1/4 inch long, the lobes shorter, ovate, spreading or turned downward.
Stamens: 5, exserted beyond the petals.
Pistils: Ovary superior, hairy; styles 2.
Fruits: Capsules ovoid, 1/4-1/3 inch long, hairy, usually 1-seeded; seed ovoid, dull brown.
Notes: This is a highly variable species with some plants upright and others lying on the ground.

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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:27:51 EST
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