Queen's-root

Description

Stillingia linearifolia is a species of flowering plant in the euphorb family known by the common name queen's-root. It is native to the Southwestern United States, Southern California, and Northwestern Mexico, where it occurs in several types of dry and disturbed habitat in deserts, mountains, foothills, and chaparral. Stillingia linearifolia is a perennial herb producing a clump of slender, branching, erect stems approaching 70 centimeters in height. The alternately arranged leaves are linear and narrow, reaching 4 centimeters in length but less than 2 millimeters in width. The inflorescence is an erect spike of flowers a few centimeters long. The plant is monoecious, and each spike has several male flowers at the tip and a few fruit-bearing female flowers below these. Neither type of flower has petals. The ovary of the female flower develops into a three-lobed greenish capsule 3 to 4 millimeters wide. There is a tiny black seed in each of the three chambers of the fruit.