Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

TOOTHCUP

File Size: 40 KB

Ammannia coccinea Rottb.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 6-40 inches

Family: Lythraceae - Loosestrife Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September,October

Also Called:

Purple ammannia, scarlet toothcup, purple toothcup.

Stems:

Erect, often widely branched from base, 4-angled, glabrous; basal branches nearly decumbent.

Leaves:

Opposite, entire, linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, rarely elliptic or spatulate, .8 to 3.2 inches long, 1/12 to 3/5 inch wide, fleshy to membranous, glabrous; base with auricles to heart-shaped, somewhat clasping.

Inflorescences:

Cymes in leaf axils; flowers mostly 3-5 per axil.

Flowers:

Flowers small, inconspicuous, sessile or on stout stalks to 1/3 inch long; floral tube urn- to slightly bell-shaped, 1/10 to 1/5 inch long; calyx lobes 4, alternating with thickened appendages; appendages nearly equaling lobes in length; petals 4-5, 1/15 to 1/10 inch long, deep rose-purple, sometimes with darker purple spot at base; stamens 4-8, extending beyond petals; anthers deep yellow; style elongated, very slender.

Fruits:

Capsule, 1/8 to 1/6 inch in diameter, equaling or slightly exceeding calyx lobes, opening irregularly; seeds many, tiny, egg-shaped to slightly triangular, rough.

Habitat:

Open wet areas, pond and lake edges, ditches, muddy ground.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Uses:

Native Americans gathered the seeds and prepared them for food.

Comments:

A highly variable species. Named for Johann Ammann, 1699-1741, a professor of natural history in St. Petersburg, Russia. Latin coccineus "scarlet red".

Toothcup