Stillingia linearifolia
Encyclopedia
Stillingia linearifolia is a species of flowering plant in the euphorb family
known by the common name queens-root. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it occurs in several types of dry and disturbed habitat in deserts, mountains, and foothills. It is a perennial herb producing a clump of slender, branching, erect stems approaching 70 centimeters in height. The alternately arranged leaves are linear and narrow, reaching 4 centimeters in length but less than 2 millimeters in width. The inflorescence
is an erect spike of flowers a few centimeters long. The plant is monoecious
, and each spike has several male flowers at the tip and a few fruit-bearing female flowers below these. Neither type of flower has petals. The ovary
of the female flower develops into a three-lobed greenish capsule 3 to 4 millimeters wide. There is a tiny black seed in each of the three chambers of the fruit.
Euphorbiaceae
Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge family are a large family of flowering plants with 300 genera and around 7,500 species. Most are herbs, but some, especially in the tropics, are also shrubs or trees. Some are succulent and resemble cacti....
known by the common name queens-root. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it occurs in several types of dry and disturbed habitat in deserts, mountains, and foothills. It is a perennial herb producing a clump of slender, branching, erect stems approaching 70 centimeters in height. The alternately arranged leaves are linear and narrow, reaching 4 centimeters in length but less than 2 millimeters in width. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is an erect spike of flowers a few centimeters long. The plant is monoecious
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
, and each spike has several male flowers at the tip and a few fruit-bearing female flowers below these. Neither type of flower has petals. The ovary
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
of the female flower develops into a three-lobed greenish capsule 3 to 4 millimeters wide. There is a tiny black seed in each of the three chambers of the fruit.