Eucnide urens

Desert rock nettle
Scientific classification Edit this 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

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]

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

  1. ^ "The California Native Plant Society, Vol. 21, No. 3, May 2001" (PDF). 2001. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  2. ^ Hall, p. 154
  3. ^ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2022-04-15.

References

Wikimedia 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.
In natural habitat in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada