''Eucrypta micrantha'' is a species of flowering plant in the waterleaf family known by the common name dainty desert hideseed. It is native to the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

, the California deserts, and northwestern Mexico. It can be found in a number of desert and mountain habitat types.

Description

This is one of two species of ''

Eucrypta ''Eucrypta'' is a genus of flowering plants containing only two species. The genus name ''Eucrypta'' means "well-hidden", which refers to the seeds being "hidden" in the small green bristled fruits. The two species are known generally as hideseed ...

'', which are sticky, aromatic annual herbs. This species produces a number of thin, densely glandular stems not more than about 30 centimeters long. The leaves are roughly oval in shape but are intricately divided into many lobes of varying shapes. Most of the leaves are located on the lower stem; any leaves higher up are much smaller. 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 ...

produces several tiny flowers with

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 often coated in black glands. The flower is just a few millimeters wide and white or purple with a yellow throat. The fruit is a bristly capsule 2 or 3 millimeters wide.

External links

*
Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
Hydrophylloideae Flora of Arizona Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora of Nevada Flora of Sonora Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Asterid-stub