Tragia ramosa Torrey, catnip noseburn. Perennial herb, many–stemmed at base, branches ascending (trailing) and having lateral branches ascending from each node along principal axis, in range shoots with terminal inflorescences mostly < 30(—45) cm tall; monoecious; shoots with only cauline leaves, having straight, stinging hairs to 1 mm long, shorter hairs, and minute glandular hairs.
Stems herbaceous stems conspicuously 8–ridged, < 2 mm diameter, with 3 ridges descending from each leaf, tough, green, mostly short–hairy and with minute glandular hairs.
Leaves helically alternate, simple, petiolate to short–petiolate, with stipules; stipules 2, attached to stem at node and to base of petiole, ascending, triangular to narrowly ovate and sometimes slightly curved (falcate), 2.1—3 × 0.8—1 mm, green or with purple tip and margins above midpoint, entire, acute at tip, persistent; petiole with pulvinus and channeled above pulvinus, 1—10 mm long (scaling with blade size), pulvinus 1 mm long, with mostly arching short hairs and some glandular hairs but few stinging hairs; blade triangular to narrowly triangular, 12—30 × 3—13 mm, truncate at base, sharply serrate on margins, acute at tip, pinnately veined with principal veins raised on both surface, surfaces with minute glandular hairs, upper surface with scattered stinging hairs, lower surface with many stinging hairs especially along principal veins.
Inflorescence raceme, terminal on principal and lateral shoots, of 1 pistillate flower opening earlier than and beneath 2—< 10 staminate flowers, bracteate; bract subtending raceme leaflike; rachis with pistillate flower separated from staminate flowers, internodes between staminate flowers 1—2 mm long; bractlet subtending pedicel of staminate flower awl–shaped, 1.5—2 mm long, green, with sparse hairs, persistent, of pistillate flower narrowly lanceolate, 1.5—2 mm long, < pistil, green, ciliate on margins; pedicel ± 1 mm long, of pistillate flower increasing 2× in fruit, of staminate flower having upper portion abscising leaving a short stub << bractlet.
Staminate flower radial, 2.5—3 mm across; tepals (sepals) 3—4 in 1 whorl, becoming strongly reflexed, oblong to obovate–oblong and somewhat hooded (cupping stamen), 1.6—1.8 × 0.6—0.7 mm, green, sparsely hairy; nectary disc absent; stamens 3—4, free, opposite tepals; filaments ± club–shaped, ca. 0.7 mm long, green, glabrous; anthers dithecal, erect, 0.4 mm long, pale yellow, longitudinally dehiscent; pollen cream to pale yellow; pistil absent.
Pistillate flower radial, 2 mm across; tepals (5—)6 in 2 whorls (appearing to 8 when inner tepals 2–lobed nearly to base), appressed, ovate, 1.3—2 × 0.7 mm, tepals > ovary but < pistil, green, with some hairs; stamens absent; nectary disc absent; pistil 1; ovary superior, 3–lobed but totally concealed by dense, ascending stinging hairs, 0.5 × 1 mm, green, 3–chambered, each chamber with 1 ovule attached to center; style conspicuously 3–branched, basal portion stout, 0.5 mm long and not constricted at base, green, the branches ascending to spreading, tentaclelike somewhat coiled at tip, ca. 2 mm long, green with purple–red or tiny red spots, with stigmatic strip on upper side.
Fruit schizocarpic capsule, arching downward, septicidal, conspicuously 3–lobed, 3.5 × 7—7.5 mm, with stinging hairs and minute glandular hairs, mericarps spheroid and ca. 4 mm, valves with thick walls; style persistent, mostly with base 1 mm long and 3 spreading branches ca. 1 mm long, not constricted at base; tepals persistent, appressed; pedicel red–purple.
Seed spheric, ca. 3 mm, black, uniformly minutely sculptured (= dormed cells); caruncle absent.
A. C. Gibson