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Western Wetland Flora

Field Office Guide to Plant Species

Mexican Summer-cypress
Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad.

JPG -- Species Photo JPG -- Distribution Map

Family: Goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae)
Flowering: July-October
Field Marks: The following combination of characters distinguishes this species: annual; greenish flowers without petals, borne in the axils of the leaves; leaves without teeth.
Habitat: Disturbed areas.
Habit: Annual herb with fibrous roots.
Stems: Upright, branched, up to 4 feet tall, usually hairy but occasionally nearly smooth.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, linear to lanceolate to obovate, up to 4 inches long, up to 1/2 inch wide, flat, hairy or smooth, pointed or rounded at the tip, tapering to the base.
Flowers: Borne in clusters in the axils of the leaves.
Sepals: 5, green, united to form a minute cup, ciliate, curving over the fruit at maturity.
Petals: 0.
Stamens: 5.
Pistils: Ovary superior; styles usually 2, rarely 3.
Fruits: Spherical but somewhat flattened, containing an obovoid seed 1/8-1/6 inch long, the seed brown or black, not shiny, smooth or granular.
Notes: This species is sometimes known as fireweed. Cultivated forms have a spherical growth form and turn reddish in the autumn. This species varies in degree of hairiness and in its size and shape.

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/plants/florawe/species/8/kochscop.htm
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Page Last Modified: Saturday, 02-Feb-2013 06:28:02 EST
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