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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GOOSEFOOT FAMILY | |||||||||
| The goosefoots are found in a wide variety of habitats around the world, but are especially common in dry or saline soil. Many species are considered weedy or invasive. This family contains over 1,150 fleshy herbs and shrubs. Some species may have kranz venation. This means that if you scrape the leaf with a sharp object you will see a dark network of veins if you look under a microscope at 10X magnification. This character is often used in the identification of plants in this family. The flowers are very small and are found in dense clusters in the leaf axils or at the ends or branches. The sepals and petals are not easily distinguishable, so they may be referred to as the perianth or as tepals. The flowers have five distinct stamens. There is a wide range of physical variation within species. | |||||||||
| HAIRY BUGSEED | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Corispermum villosum | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Hairy bugseed grows 10 to 30 cm tall from a taproot. The stem is branched, or occasionally simple, and is covered in star-shaped hairs. Older stems may become hairless and reddish or purplish in age. The leaves are alternate and stalkess. The flowers are in dense clusters that cover the stem completely. The bracts are wider than the fruit. The lower bracts are leafy while the upper bracts have a dry, membranous margin. The fruits have a triangular beak and are often red-spotted or may have white warts. The seed coat is yellowish to dark brown. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Hairy bugseed grows in sandy prairie barrens, shores, sand dune blowouts, roadsides, sandy wastelands, and old fields. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant grows in northwestern and southern Saskatchewan in the Mixed Grassland, Moist Mixed Grassland, Aspen Parkland, and Athabasca Plain ecoregions. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Hairy bugseed is vulnerable in Saskatchewan because it is rare or uncommon and is regionally restricted. No immediate threats are known, but may occur in the future. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY HAIRY BUGSEED | |||||||||
| * Is the inflorescence dense (i.e. cannot see stem
through inflorescence)? * Are the lower bracts leafy and the upper bracts membranous-margined? * Do the seeds have a triangular beak? * Did you find in northwestern or southern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have hairy bugseed! | |||||||||
