The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

branch noseburn, branch or desert or common noseburn, desert noseburn, desert tragia

Jones' noseburn

Habit Subshrubs, 1.2–5 dm. Subshrubs, 4–5 dm.
Stems

erect to trailing, dark green to light green, apex rarely flexuous.

decumbent, trailing, or erect, green to gray-green, apex flexuous.

Leaves

petiole 2–20 mm;

blade linear-lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 1–4 × 0.5–2 cm, base truncate to weakly cordate, margins serrate, apex acute.

petiole 3–10(–15) mm;

blade ovate to triangular-ovate, 0.9–2(–3) × 0.5–1.5(–2) cm, base deeply cordate, margins serrate, apex acute.

Inflorescences

terminal (often appearing leaf opposed), glands few, sessile, staminate flowers 2–20 per raceme; staminate bracts 1.5–2 mm.

terminal (often appearing leaf-opposed), glands stipitate, prominent throughout, staminate flowers 10–30 per raceme; staminate bracts 0.8–1 mm.

Pedicels

staminate 0.7–2 mm, persistent base 0.4–1.5 mm; pistillate 2–2.5 mm in fruit.

staminate 2.2–2.4 mm, persistent base 1.8–2 mm; pistillate 7–11 mm in fruit.

Staminate flowers

sepals 3–4, green, 1–2.2 mm;

stamens 3–6(–10), filaments 0.3–1 mm.

sepals 3–4, green, 0.9–1.1 mm;

stamens 2–3, filaments 0.2–0.3 mm.

Pistillate flowers

sepals lanceolate, 0.8–2.5 mm;

styles connate 1/3–1/2 length, long-exserted;

stigmas smooth to undulate.

sepals ovate, 1.5 mm;

styles connate 1/3–1/2 length;

stigmas undulate to subpapillate.

Capsules

6–8 mm wide.

5 mm wide.

Seeds

dark brown, 2.5–3.5 mm.

mottled brown-purple, 2.5–3 mm.

2n

= 44.

Tragia ramosa

Tragia jonesii

Phenology Flowering spring–fall; fruiting late spring–fall. Flowering spring–summer; fruiting summer–fall.
Habitat Mesquite, desert scrub, pine-juniper, oak woodlands. Sonoran desert scrub.
Elevation 200–2800 m. (700–9200 ft.) 10-–900 m. (0-–3000 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CA; CO; KS; MO; NE; NM; NV; TX; UT; Mexico (Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; Mexico (Baja California Sur, Sonora)
Discussion

Tragia ramosa is a variable species showing much environmental plasticity. Collections from the western United States and western Mexico have much broader leaves than those from Texas and Nuevo León, and were previously referred to as T. stylaris. Smooth stigmatic surfaces, three to six (rarely to ten) stamens, and narrow apical leaves are characters consistent with T. ramosa.

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

In the flora area, Tragia jonesii is confined to Pima County in southern Arizona. Identified as T. amblyodonta in several floras, it differs from that species by its stipitate glands and twining habit. Tragia jonesii resembles T. glanduligera from southern Texas and eastern Mexico in the presence of stipitate glands, but differs in leaf blade shape and base, the number of teeth on the leaf blade margin (4–9 teeth per side in T. jonesii, 10–15 teeth per side in T. glanduligera), and the longer fruiting pedicel.

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

Source FNA vol. 12, p. 189. FNA vol. 12, p. 187.
Parent taxa Euphorbiaceae > Tragia Euphorbiaceae > Tragia
Sibling taxa
T. amblyodonta, T. betonicifolia, T. brevispica, T. cordata, T. glanduligera, T. jonesii, T. laciniata, T. leptophylla, T. nepetifolia, T. nigricans, T. saxicola, T. smallii, T. urens, T. urticifolia
T. amblyodonta, T. betonicifolia, T. brevispica, T. cordata, T. glanduligera, T. laciniata, T. leptophylla, T. nepetifolia, T. nigricans, T. ramosa, T. saxicola, T. smallii, T. urens, T. urticifolia
Synonyms T. angustifolia, T. nepetifolia var. angustifolia, T. nepetifolia var. ramosa, T. ramosa var. latifolia, T. stylaris, T. stylaris var. angustifolia, T. stylaris var. latifolia T. scandens
Name authority Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 245. (1827) Radcliffe-Smith & Govaerts: Kew Bull. 52: 480. (1997)
Web links