LOASACEAE

LOASA FAMILY

Barry Prigge

Annual to shrub; hairs needle-like, stinging, or rough
Leaves alternate in CA, generally ± pinnately lobed; stipules 0
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual, radial; sepals generally 5, generally persistent in fruit; petals generally 5, free or fused to each other or to filament tube; stamens 5–many, filaments thread-like to flat, sometimes fused at base or in clusters; petal-like staminodes sometimes present; pistil 1, ovary inferior, chamber generally 1, placentas generally 3, parietal, style 1
Fruit: generally capsule (utricle)
Seeds 1–many
Genera in family: 15 genera, ± 200 species: especially Am (Africa, Pacific)
Reference: [Ernst & Thompson 1963 J Arnold Arbor 44:138–142]

EUCNIDE

ROCK NETTLE

Annual to subshrub; hairs generally needle-like and stinging (or barbed)
Leaf widely ovate to ± round, toothed to ± lobed; base widely tapered to cordate
Inflorescence: cyme, bracted
Flower: petals fused below middle or to filament tube; stamens many, epipetalous or fused at base into short tube; ovary club-shaped to spheric, placentas 5, stigma lobes 5, generally appressed
Fruit obovoid to spheric, nodding or reflexed, clearly pedicelled, dehiscent from top by 5 valves
Seeds many, < 1 mm, ± oblong, grooved or ribbed
Species in genus: 8 species: sw US, n Mex
Etymology: (Greek: strongly nettle-like)

Native

E. urens (A. Gray) Parry

Subshrub 30–100 cm
Leaf: petiole < 5 cm; blade < 10 cm, generally ovate, ± irregularly toothed, gray-green and dull above, base truncate to cordate
Flower: pedicel in fruit < 1.5 cm, ascending to erect; sepals 15–22 mm, 5–7 mm wide, tip acuminate; petals ± free, 30–50 mm, spreading, whitish to pale yellow; stamens fused at base, tube 2–5 mm, filaments 10–20 mm; stigma lobes slightly above anthers
Fruit 10–20 mm, club-shaped to obconic
Chromosomes: n=21
Ecology: Cliffs, rocky slopes, washes
Elevation: < 1400 m.
Bioregional distribution: Desert
Distribution outside California: to sw Utah, Arizona, n Mexico
Flowering time: Apr–Jun