Eucnide urens, also known as desert rock nettle or desert stingbush, is a shrub which is native to desert areas in California, Arizona, Utah, Southern Nevada, and Baja California. Other common names are velcro plant[1] and vegetable velcro.[2]
Desert rock nettle | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Cornales |
Family: | Loasaceae |
Genus: | Eucnide |
Species: | E. urens
|
Binomial name | |
Eucnide urens Parry, 1875
|
The flowers, which appear from spring to early summer, are cream or pale yellow with 5 petals and are 2.5 to 5 cm long. The coarsely serrated leaves are 2 to 6.5 cm long with stinging hairs which are also found on the stems and buds. It grows in the desert on cliffs and dry, rocky places.[3]
The plant is round and bushy and is usually between 30 and 60 cm in height and is often found on cliff faces. Desert bighorn sheep feed on the flowers.[citation needed]
Notes
edit- ^ "The California Native Plant Society, Vol. 21, No. 3, May 2001" (PDF). 2001. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
- ^ Hall, p. 154
- ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2022-04-15.
References
editWikimedia Commons has media related to Eucnide urens.
- Spellenberg, R. (1979) Field Guide to North American Wildflowers - Western Region, National Audubon Society.
- Hall, Clarence A., Jr. (1991) Natural History of the White-Inyo Range, University of California Press.