Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council Plants Resource Page

Plant of the Month - Turkish Rugging

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Plant Description

Common Name(s):Turkish Rugging
Scientific Name:Chorizanthe staticoides
Family:Polygonaceae (Buckwheat)
Plant Type:Annual
Size: less than a foot, spreading
Habitat:grassy slopes, dry and sandy places in Chaparral
Blooms:April to July
Fire Response:Stump Sprout or Seed

Turkish Rugging forms eye-pleasing rosy-colored mats of inflourescence in the dry heat of summer. Blooming occurs from April to July.

The rosy and white flowes grow at the ends of branches and are about a quarter-inch in diameter. Stems have many branches, are brittle and rosy colored. Spatula-shaped leaves form a basal rosette at the beginning of the plant's life but disappear quickly when the flowers come.

The genus name Chorizanthe is Greek for "divided flowers". The species name staticoides is synonomous with Limonium, another type of plant.

Contributed by Liz Baumann


Turkish Rugging - Originally featured: June 2013
Last modified: May 13 2017 20:50:48.
References:
Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley
Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California, by Nancy Dale
Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People.., by Jan Timbrook
Images Botanical Terms for Leaves