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prairie pinweed

narrow-leaf pinweed

Habit Herbs, perennial. Herbs, biennial or perennial.
Stems

basal produced; flowering erect, 25–45 cm, densely sericeous.

basal produced; flowering erect, 12–40 cm, sparsely sericeous.

Leaves

of flowering stems alternate or subopposite;

blade narrowly oblanceolate, 13–20 × 1.5–3 mm, apex acute, often mucronate, abaxial surface pilose, adaxial glabrous.

of flowering stems opposite or whorled;

blade linear to narrowly oblanceolate, 7–20 × 0.5–1.5 mm, apex rounded, abaxial surface sparsely pilose on midvein and margins, adaxial glabrous.

Pedicels

1 per axil, 1.6–2 mm.

1 per axil, 0.5–1.5 mm.

Flowers

calyx 1.6–1.8 mm, outer sepals shorter than inner.

calyx 1.6–1.9 mm, outer sepals equaling or longer than inner.

Capsules

subglobose to broadly ovoid, (1.8–)2–2.5 × 2–2.5 mm, ± equaling calyx.

secund or not, broadly ovoid, 1.4–1.7 × 1.3–1.5 mm, shorter than or ± equaling calyx.

Seeds

3–4.

2–3(–5).

Lechea stricta

Lechea tenuifolia

Phenology Flowering summer–fall; fruiting fall. Flowering summer–fall; fruiting fall.
Habitat Sandy, open fields, grasslands, lakeshores, woodland margins Dry, sandy or gravelly soil in openings or along margins of oak woodlands and oak-pine forests
Elevation 100–800 m (300–2600 ft) 100–300 m (300–1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; MI; MN; ND; NE; WI; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Some individuals of Lechea stricta can be difficult to determine with certainty; the extremes of variation of L. stricta often grade into that of L. intermedia and L. pulchella.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 396. FNA vol. 6, p. 396.
Parent taxa Cistaceae > Lechea Cistaceae > Lechea
Sibling taxa
L. cernua, L. deckertii, L. divaricata, L. intermedia, L. lakelae, L. maritima, L. mensalis, L. minor, L. mucronata, L. pulchella, L. racemulosa, L. san-sabeana, L. sessiliflora, L. tenuifolia, L. torreyi
L. cernua, L. deckertii, L. divaricata, L. intermedia, L. lakelae, L. maritima, L. mensalis, L. minor, L. mucronata, L. pulchella, L. racemulosa, L. san-sabeana, L. sessiliflora, L. stricta, L. torreyi
Synonyms L. tenuifolia var. occidentalis
Name authority Leggett ex Britton: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 21: 251. (1894) Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 77. (1803)
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