[Stickseeds: The Genus Hackelia East of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]

Sagebrush Stickseed

Hackelia diffusa var. arida

Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida

Fruits of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida)

The bristly fruits of sagebrush stickseed as seen growing on the arid, east-facing slopes of Burch Mt., several miles north of Wenatchee, WA.........June 6, 2009.

Characteristics:

Sagebrush stickseed is a perennial wildflower with one to several stems arising from 20-80 cm tall. The stems are covered with many soft, spreading hairs with some appressed, downward pointing hairs on the lower stem and some appressed hairs on the upper stems pointed to the apex of the plant. The basal leaves are well developed, petiolate, with linear blades from 5-20 cm long and 2-10 mm wide. The stem leaves are also linear in shape, sessile or somewhat clasping at the base, becoming reduced in size upwards up the stem.

The inflorescence consists of numerous scorpioid, one-sided spikes on short branches on the upper stem. The flowers are white with a yellow eye.. The tube is short with 5 spreading lobes at the mouth of the flower, which is 6-12 mm wide across its diameter from lobe tip to lobe tip.


Varieties:

Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida - Flowers white with yellow eye. Leaves generally less than 1 cm wide. Hairs on the stem usually appressed to somewhat spreading. Plants of dry slopes with sagebrush or ponderosa pine. Plants of central Washington, found amongst sagebrush or in yellow pine woodlands.

Cotton's Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. cottonii - Leaves generally greater than 1 cm wide. Hairs on the middle and lower stems spreading. Plants of talus and rocky cliffs along the Columbia River.

Spreading Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. diffusa - Flowers white or sometimes blue with yellow eye. Leaves generally greater than 1 cm wide. Hairs on the middle and lower stems spreading. Plants of talus and rocky cliffs along the Columbia River.


Habitat:

Sagebrush stickseed may be found ondry, open to lightly wooded slopes. It is often found with sagebrush or ponderosa pine.


Range:

Sagebrush stickseed may be found east of the Cascade Mts. in Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas and Yakima counties in central Oregon.


Sepals of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida) - Nutlet of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida) - Flower of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida) -

Stem of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida) - Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida) - Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida)

Habitat of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonyms: Hackelia arida, Lappula arida) - Pacific Dotted Blue: Euphilotes enoptes ?

Addtitional close-up photos of sagebrush stickseed as seen along Forest Service Road #3507 along the western base of Table Mountainm, Wenatchee National Forest........July 8, 2010. Note what might be a Pacific dotted blue nectaring on a flower of sagebrush stickseed.

Leaf of Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonym: Hackelia arida)

The photo above shows a leaf of sagebrush stickseed?. Photographed along US Highway 2 at Jameston Lake Rd..........May 3, 1998.

Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonym: Hackelia arida)

Sagebrush stickseed as seen growing on the arid, east-facing slopes of Burch Mt., several miles north of Wenatchee, WA.........June 6, 2009.

Sagebrush Stickseed: Hackelia diffusa var. arida (Synonym: Hackelia arida)

The photo above shows sagebrush stickseed? (if not, then possibly H. hispida var. disjuncta ?) along US Highway 2 at Jameston Lake Rd..........May 3, 1998.

Flower of Gray Stickweed: Hackelia cinerea

Close-up of the flower of what may be sagebrush stickweed as seen near Rimrock Lake in Moses Coulee, north-central Washington.........June 7, 2009. Note the hairy fornices (white nobs or bumps between the yellow-colored areas at the throat of the flower), a characteristic of this species.

Prickly nutlets of Gray Stickweed: Hackelia cinerea

Prickly nutlets of what may be sagebrush stickweed as seen near Rimrock Lake in Moses Coulee, north-central Washington.........June 7, 2009. Note that the marginal prickles are free to the base and there are a number of small intramarginal prickles at the center of each nutlet.

Slichter