BORAGINACEAE

BORAGE FAMILY

Annual, perennial herb, shrubs, generally bristly or sharply hairy
Stem prostrate to erect
Leaves cauline, often with basal rosette, generally simple, alternate; lower sometimes opposite, entire
Inflorescence: cyme, generally elongate, panicle-, raceme- or spike-like, coiled in flower, generally uncoiled in fruit or flowers 1–2 per axil
Flowers generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals 5, free or fused in lower half; corolla 5-lobed, generally salverform, top of tube generally appendaged, appendages 5, alternating with stamens, sometimes arching over tube; stamens 5, epipetalous; ovary superior, generally 4-lobed, style generally entire
Fruit: nutlets 1–4, smooth to variously roughened, sometimes prickly or bristled
Genera in family: ± 100 genera, ± 2000 species: tropical, temp, especially w North America, Medit; some cultivated (Borago, Echium, Myosotis, Symphytum ). Almost all genera may be TOXIC from alkaloids or accumulated nitrates
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Hydrophyllaceae [Olmsted et al. 2000 Mol Phylog Evol 16:96–112]
Family description, key to genera by Timothy C. Messick.

HARPAGONELLA

Timothy C. Messick

Species in genus: 1 sp
Etymology: (Latin: small grappling hook, from calyx spines)

Native

H. palmeri A. Gray

PALMER'S GRAPPLING HOOK

Stem ascending to erect, 3–30 cm
Inflorescence: pedicels in fruit 0.5–1 mm, twisted
Flower: sepals in fruit > nutlets, upper 2 >> others, partly fused, arched over 1 nutlet, ± bur-like, with 5–10 stout spines, each with hooked bristles, lower 3 sepals distinct
Fruit: nutlets 2, 1–4 mm, dissimilar, ± oblanceolate, margins entire
Chromosomes: n=12
Ecology: Dry sites in chaparral, coastal scrub, grassland
Elevation: < 450 m.
Bioregional distribution: South Coast, Peninsular Ranges, sw Sonoran Desert
Distribution outside California: Arizona, nw Mexico
Flowering time: Mar–Apr