''Pectocarya peninsularis'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names Baja pectocarya and peninsular pectocarya. It is native to the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, where it grows in open desert habitat, including disturbed areas. This is an annual herb producing a slender, rough-haired stem, decumbent or upright form to a maximum length of about 24 centimeters. The small, pointed linear leaves are alternately arranged, widely spaced along the stem. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a series of flowers, each on a curved

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

. The flower has small green

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s and tiny white petals. The fruit is an array of four nutlets each lined with comblike prickles, those higher on the plant arranged in pairs and the lower ones unpaired.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
peninsularis Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Asterid-stub