Lappula occidentalis – Flatspine Stickseed

Lappula occidentalis - Flatspine Stickseed, White Stickseed, Western Sticktight (blue flower)

Lappula occidentalis - Flatspine Stickseed, White Stickseed, Western Sticktight (white flowers)

Lappula occidentalis - Flatspine Stickseed, White Stickseed, Western Sticktight (spiny green fruit)

Lappula occidentalis - Flatspine Stickseed, White Stickseed, Western Sticktight

Lappula occidentalis - Flatspine Stickseed, White Stickseed, Western Sticktight

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Lappula occidentalis

Synonym: Lappula redowskii

Common Names: Flatspine Stickseed, White Stickseed, Western Sticktight

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual, Biennial

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland

Flower Color: Pale blue, White

Flowering Season: Spring

Height: To 2 feet (61 cm) tall

Description: The flowers are tiny, tubular, and have 5 rounded lobes. The flowers are followed by small nutlets with hook-tipped spines. While the small flowers are easy to overlook, the spiny dried nutlets are not, as they will stick to clothing or animal fur. If you walk through a patch of these plants, expect to pick hundreds of prickly nutlets out of your socks. The leaves are green, hairy, alternate, and linear, lanceolate, or spatulate in shape. The stems are hairy and upright.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Boraginaceae – Borage family
Genus: Lappula Moench – stickseed
Species: Lappula occidentalis (S. Watson) Greene – flatspine stickseed

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map