Stemodia durantifolia – Whitewoolly Twintip

Stemodia durantifolia - Whitewoolly Twintip, White-woolly Twintip

Stemodia durantifolia - Whitewoolly Twintip, White-woolly Twintip

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Stemodia durantifolia

Synonyms: Capraria durantifolia, Stemodia arizonica

Common Names: Whitewoolly Twintip, White-woolly Twintip

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Riparian. This wildflower grows in wet sand or between rocks in and along streams and rivers in the desert and lower mountain foothills.

Flower Color: Violet

Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall

Height: To 20 inches (51 cm) tall, but usually less

Description: The flowers are in whorls of 3 in the upper leaf axils. The individual flowers are tubular, 2-lipped, and have a yellowish white throat edged with dark purple lines, 2 pairs of stamens, and 5 rounded lobes (2 lobes on the upper lip and 3 lobes on the lower lip). The leaves are green, variably toothed, lanceolate, and in whorls of 2 or 3 at the leaf nodes. The plants are glandular-hairy and usually have sand and other bits of debris stuck to them.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae – Figwort family
Genus: Stemodia L. – twintip
Species: Stemodia durantifolia (L.) Sw. – whitewoolly twintip

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map