Pectocarya Recurvata, Arched-Nut Pectocarya
Plants > Wildflowers > Boraginaceae > Pectocarya Recurvata
Common name:
Arched-nut pectocarya
Family:
Scientific name:
Pectocarya recurvata
Main flower color:
Range:
Southern California, southern Nevada, far southwest Utah, south/west Arizona and far southwest New Mexico
Height:
Up to 8 inches
Habitat:
Shady places in deserts, including Joshua-tree woodland and creosote scrub, from near sea level to 4,500 feet
Leaves:
Alternate, sessile, linear, strigose-hairy, up to 1.5 inches long, somewhat pointed at the tip
Season:
February to May
Stems and leaves of pectocarya recurvata are covered by white, appressed, strigose hairs; there are (usually) no spreading hairs, or bristles. Leaves are linear, with a depressed midvein. Flowers are solitary or in small groups, attached by curved stalks; they have a green, five-lobed calyx (the lobes equal in length) and a white, funnel-shaped corolla, with pale yellow appendages.
The fruit is the most distinctive feature; the four pale yellow nutlets (around 0.1 inches long) are arranged in an X-shape, in two distinct pairs, and all are strongly recurved, sometimes coiled. Nutlets are lined with sharp, flattened white teeth of differing sizes.
The fruit is the most distinctive feature; the four pale yellow nutlets (around 0.1 inches long) are arranged in an X-shape, in two distinct pairs, and all are strongly recurved, sometimes coiled. Nutlets are lined with sharp, flattened white teeth of differing sizes.
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