W150 



WOOLLY INDIANWHEAT 



Planta'go pursh'ii, syn. P. patago'nica gnaphalioi'des 



Flowers small, numerous, bracted, in 

 a dense, woolly, slender-cylindric spike, 

 K to 6 (commonly 1 to 3) in. long; 

 many of flowers never opening, self- 

 pollinating 



Stamens 4, alternating with the petals, 

 in some flowers short-stalked, in others, 

 long-stalked 



United petals (corolla) thin, mem- 

 branous, deeply 4-lobed; lobes spread- 

 ing, persistent, not closed over seed 

 pod 



Outer flower parts (sepals) 4, mem- 

 branous, with thickened centers, blunt- 

 tipped 



Flower bracts linear, about equal to 

 or shorter than flowers 



Seed pod (pyxis) oblong, 2-celled, 

 2-seeded, opening horizontally, the top 

 half falling off like a lid 



Leaves all basal, narrow, 1- to 3- 

 nerved, densely soft-hairy 



Taproot annual 



Woolly Indian wheat is a small, silvery, annual weed from 2 to 15 (com- 

 monly 4 to 8) inches high, with small, inconspicuous flowers in a dense, cylin- 

 drical spike, which resembles a spike of wheat in general outline. 



This s.mall annual occurs from Ontario to Texas and westward to Arizona 

 and British Columbia, growing in all of the western range States except Cali- 

 fornia. It is a light-loving plant, appearing almost invariably in full sunlight 

 on dry, open foothills, mesas, and plains. Its altitudinal occurrence varies 

 from about 1,200 feet in the Northwest to 7,000 or 8,)000 feet in the Great 



