Tragia leptophylla
Tragia nepetifolia
fine-leaf noseburn
catnip noseburn
erect, brownish red to maroon-green, apex never flexuous.
erect to trailing, green to reddish green, apex never flexuous.
petiole 0.5–2 mm;
blade acicular to narrowly oblong, 1–6 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base acute to subcuneate, margins usually entire, sometimes serrulate, apex acute to obtuse.
petiole 3–25(–41) mm;
blade triangular to ovate [linear], proximal broadly ovate to sometimes suborbiculate, 1.8–5 × 0.9–3.6 cm, often red-green, base truncate to cordate, margins coarsely dentate to coarsely serrate, apex acute.
terminal (appearing leaf opposed) or axillary, glands absent, staminate flowers 2–3(–5) per raceme;
staminate bracts 2–2.5 mm.
terminal (often appearing leaf opposed), glands sessile or absent, staminate flowers 8–40 per raceme, distally clustered [evenly distributed];
staminate bracts 1.3–1.6 mm.
staminate 1–2 mm, persistent base 0.5–0.8 mm, pistillate 2–3 mm in fruit.
staminate 1.4–1.7 mm, persistent base 0.5–0.7 mm;
pistillate 2.9–3.3 mm in fruit.
sepals 3–4(–5), green, 1–2.5 mm;
stamens 3–4, filaments 1.2–1.4 mm, connate basally.
sepals 3–4, reddish green, 1–2 mm;
stamens 3–4, filaments 0.3–0.6 mm.
sepals lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm;
styles connate 1/5 length;
stigmas undulate to slightly papillate.
sepals lanceolate [ovate], 1.4–2.3 mm;
styles connate 1/4–1/3 length;
stigmas papillate.
4–5 mm wide.
6–8 mm wide.
mottled dark olive brown, 2.5–3 mm.
brownish black, 3–4 mm.
Tragia leptophylla
Tragia nepetifolia
Tragia leptophylla is known from the western part of the Edwards Plateau region in west-central Texas. K. I. Miller and G. L. Webster (1967) did not recognize T. leptophylla as a distinct species; they treated it as a synonym of T. ramosa. Tragia leptophylla differs from T. ramosa in its less branching habit, dark reddish stems, usually entire leaf blade margins, fewer staminate flowers per inflorescence, and riparian limestone cobble habitat.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Tragia nepetifolia is typically found at high elevations in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Since it was described more than 200 years ago, many collections of Tragia in Mexico and the United States have been identified mistakenly as this species.
Tragia nepetifolia includes four varieties in Mexico, but none match plants occurring in the United States. These most closely resemble var. dissecta Müller Arg. of western Mexico, sharing inflorescences with distally clustered staminate flowers and a tendency toward reddish coloration, but differing in that their leaf blades are not as deeply toothed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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