Rusty Popcornflower

Description

It is an annual herb growing erect 20 to 70 centimeters in maximum height. It contains purple sap, the herbage edged with purple or rusty red and bleeding purple when crushed. It is hairy in texture, the hairs rough and sharp. The leaves are mostly located in a rosette around the base of the stem, with a few alternately arranged along the stem's length. The inflorescence is a series of tiny five-lobed white flowers each 3 to 9 millimeters wide. The fruit is a rounded nutlet with a pointed tip about 2 millimeters long and borne singly, in pairs or triplets which are solidly attached to each other. Deep roots are characteristic especially on drier soils.