Florida Keys Noseburn

Description

Herbs or subshrubs, 1.2-3.5 dm. Stems erect, green, apex flexuous. Leaves: petiole 5-13 mm; blade suborbiculate to ovate, 1.2-3 - 1-2.3 cm, base subcordate, margins dentate to serrate, apex acute. Inflorescences terminal (often appearing leaf opposed), glands absent, staminate flowers 12-20 per raceme; staminate bracts 0.8-1.2 mm. Pedicels: staminate 1.5-1.9 mm, persistent base 0.5-0.7 mm; pistillate 3.2-3.7 mm in fruit. Staminate flowers: sepals 3-4, green, 1-1.5 mm; stamens 3-4, filaments 0.4-0.6 mm. Pistillate flowers: sepals lanceolate, 1.5-3 mm; styles connate 1/4-1/3 length; stigmas undulate. Capsules 6-7 mm wide. Seeds dark brown with light brown streaks, 2.4-3 mm.Flowering late winter-fall; fruiting spring-early winter. Dry pinelands and hammocks on limestone substrates; 0-10 m; Fla.Tragia saxicola occurs in south Florida and the Florida Keys. Although similar to T. smallii in its suborbiculate leaf blades, it differs in having longer petioles and smaller seeds.