Eriocaulon microcephalum Kunth

Smallhead pipewort (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Poales > Eriocaulaceae > Eriocaulon

Characteristics

Herbs, perennial, to 5 cm. Leaves: narrowly triangular-acuminate, 1.5--3 cm, apex narrow, blunt, calloused. Inflorescences: scape sheaths mostly shorter than longer leaves, dilated apically; scapes linear, 1 mm wide, distally 4--5-ribbed; mature heads pale, hemispheric to globose, 3--4 mm wide, soft; receptacle glabrous or sparsely pilose; involucral bracts erect or ascending, nearly covering head, yellow-white or yellow-brown, broadly obovate to suborbiculate, grading narrower inward, 2 mm, margins entire, erose with age, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous; receptacular bracteoles dark brown, narrowly obovate, 2 mm, margins entire, erose with age, apex obtuse, margins and abaxial surface with scattered, stubby, white, multicellular hairs. Staminate flowers: sepals 3, gray, cuneate-spatulate, 2 mm; apex shallowly 3-cleft, surfaces distally hairy, ciliolate, hairs white, stubby; androphore cylindric; petals 3, minute, unequal, white-ciliate; stamens 6; anthers nearly black. Pistillate flowers: sepals 3, gray, translucent, curved, keeled, 2 mm, apex rounded, apiculate, ciliate, hairy with white, blunt hairs; petals 3, yellow-white, oblong or narrowly spatulate, flat, 2 mm, apex rounded, blade adaxially pilose with translucent hairs, apically ciliate with white hairs; pistil 3-carpellate. Seeds rich red-brown, ovoid or ellipsoid, 0.6--0.8 mm, faintly reticulate with horizontally aligned rectangular alveolae.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality monoecy
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.04 - 0.05
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
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Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
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Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
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Optimum temperature (C°) -
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Distribution

Eriocaulon microcephalum world distribution map, present in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, and United States of America

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:335492-1
WFO ID wfo-0000412053
COL ID 3B33R
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Eriocaulon brachypus Eriocaulon microcephalum Eriocaulon pusillum