Scientific Family
Chenopodiaceae
Synonyms
Corispermum nitidum, C. imbricatum
Other common names
bugseed
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Introduced
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
To 27 inches
Riparian
Yes
Slender taproot; stems branched, smooth to slightly grooved, covered in star-shaped hairs; flat, thin leaves; flowers in a loose, spike-like cluster.
Plants to 27 inches tall, branched near base or above; flower stems narrow and lax, usually with gaps without flowers; fruits yellowish, greenish-brown, or brown, often with reddish-brown spots, whitish warts; bracts not uniform, distal bract shorter.
Habitat
Sandy soils, dunes, gravely shores, sandy waste places, fields.
Plant Community
Riparian
Disturbed Areas
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
2950
High elevation
3900
Flower Characteristics
1 flower in axil of leaf-like bracts, greenish, tiny, scale-like, with 1 sepal and no petals. Bracts to 3/4 inch long, 1/8 to 1/2 inch wide, egg-shaped to linear lance-shaped or sometimes linear; 1 projecting stamen; 2 stigmas.
Flower color
Greenish
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
August
Last bloom month
October
Flower clusters
Elongated
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Solitary stem that branches near the plant base, smooth to slightly grooved, hairs star-shaped, often becoming hairless, greenish to reddish with age; alternate, stalk-less leaves to 2 inches long, 1/16 to 1/4 inch wide, linear, hairy, margin entire.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Yellowish, greenish or reddiish tints possible. Stalk-less, sometimes concealed by the bracts, 1/16 to 1/4 inch long,1/16 inch wide, reverse egg-shaped, broadest past the middle, slightly convex beneath, more or less flat above, winged. Wing translucent.
Fruit type
Achene
Fruit color
Yellowish, greenish, reddish