Hoary Bowlesia

This is a South American species and a recent introduction in W. Pakistan. The plant is fairly common in the Rawalpindi area during the spring.

Annual, decumbent. Stems slender, glabrate to slightly stellate pubescent; hairs 8-rayed, stalks short or sessile. Leaves opposite, petiolate, palmately lobed, dorsal and ventral surfaces covered with stellate hairs, more numerous on the ventral surface. Umbels simple, 2-5 flowered. Involucre of a few scarious, white, lacerate bracts. Flowers small. Calyx teeth prominent. Petals greenish white to purple. Stylopodium conical; styles short; carpels densely stellate pubescent. Fruit ellipsoid to globose, c. 2 mm long, 1.5 mm broad, covered with stellate hairs, slightly cordate at the base, subsessile; ridges inconspicuous.

Distribution: South America, southern U.S.A.; introduced in Europe, W. Pakistan and New Zealand.

Fl. Per. March-April