The photo above shows a portion of a mat of cushion cryptantha as seen in sandy areas on the east bank of the Columbia River several miles north of Vantage, WA........late June 2006.
The
photo at right shows the flowers and leaves of cushion cryptantha as seen along
the northern edge of Alkali Lake in central Oregon..........June 24, 2003.
Also known as opening cryptanth, cushion cryptantha is a much-branched annual that forms mats or cushions from 1-6 cm high and 5-20 cm in diameter. The branches are ascending, spreading or depressed along the ground. The herbage consists of coarse, appressed hairs with many ascending or spreading hairs. The numerous leaves are crowded towards the ends of the branches. They are linear in shape and measure 5-13 mm long.
The flowers are crowded, solitary, or in the axils of the upper leaves or in the forks of the branches. The calyx in fruit is only 2-3 mm long. The tiny corolla varies from 0.5-1.5 mm wide.
Cushion cryptantha may be found at lower elevations on dry, sandy slopes and plains and in the foothills, although it may be found up to elevations of 3000 meters in the White Mts. of California.
Cushion cryptantha may be found east of the Cascade Mts. from central Washington south to Baja California and eastwards to the Snake River Plains and Salmon River in Idaho. It is also found across much of Nevada, south of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, in northwestern Colorado, southwestern Wyoming and in northern and western Arizona. It is also found in Chile and Argentina.
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