Boerhavia erecta

  

 Boerhavia erecta (erect spiderling) ( )

Nyctaginaceae

  • Summer-fall ephemeral, resembling B. coulteri but having flowers in tiny umbellate clusters. Some Seri said they were the same plant but that this had grown taller. Animal Food: the edible caterpillar of the sphinx moth (Hyles lineata) was said to be found more often on this plant than on other kinds of plants. Medicine: the stems were cooked in water, and the resulting tea taken to combat measles. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians".

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Lupinus arizonicus

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Asteraceae

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Asteraceae The most diverse and ecologically significant family of woody and semi-woody shrubs in creosote bush scrub is the sunflower family. Globally Asteraceae is second only to the Orchidaceae in number of species. Memers of the Asteraceae family are challenging to identify until one becomes familiar with flower structures. The essential feature defining the Asteraceae is the presence of composite flower heads that typically include numerous tiny flowers joined in what, at first, resembles a single large flower-as seen in a familiar sunflower. The typical composite flower head is composed of two types of flowers, although either one of these types may be absent in some genera. The outer whorl of flowers in a typical composite head has three petals fused to form what appears to be a single large petal, while the other two petals are absent. These fused petals of the ray flowers, or ligules, are the attractive structures for pollinators. Ray flowers are almost always female. The inne...
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Geraea canescens

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