Species: Cryptantha scoparia
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Miner's Candle is a slender annual herb with simple or branched stems that are 5-15 cm high. The alternate, narrow, strap-shaped leaves are 2-4 cm long; those at the base are usually brown by the time the plant is fruiting. Stems are sparsely covered with straight hairs appressed to the surface, while the leaves have some spreading hairs. Tiny, white flowers are borne on coiled stalks that unwind and elongate as flowering progresses from the base upward. The corolla is ca. 1 mm high and has a small united portion below and 5 spreading petals above. The narrow calyx is covered with bristly hairs and becomes 4-6 mm long in fruit. The 4 lance-shaped nutlets are ca. 2 mm long, ca 0.5 mm wide, and are finely bumpy.
Classification
Dicotyledoneae
Lamiales
Boraginaceae
Cryptantha
NatureServe
Classification
Ecology and Life History
Miner's Candle is a slender annual herb with simple or branched stems that are 5-15 cm high. The alternate, narrow, strap-shaped leaves are 2-4 cm long; those at the base are usually brown by the time the plant is fruiting. Stems are sparsely covered with straight hairs appressed to the surface, while the leaves have some spreading hairs. Tiny, white flowers are borne on coiled stalks that unwind and elongate as flowering progresses from the base upward. The corolla is ca. 1 mm high and has a small united portion below and 5 spreading petals above. The narrow calyx is covered with bristly hairs and becomes 4-6 mm long in fruit. The 4 lance-shaped nutlets are ca. 2 mm long, ca 0.5 mm wide, and are finely bumpy.