Royal catchfly

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Royal catchfly inflorescence

Royal catchfly leaf pair

Royal catchfly

Royal catchfly leaves

Royal catchfly flowers

Royal catchfly

Royal catchfly

Royal catchfly calyx

Royal catchfly

Morphology

Stem

Erect, usually single, unbranched below inflorescence, glabrous or sparsely short-hairy below to densely glandular-hairy above.

Leaves

Opposite; basal leaves usually absent at flowering; stem leaves in 10-20 pairs, blades broadly ovate to lanceolate, 1.6 to 4.8 inches long, .6 to 2.8 inches wide; surfaces moderately to densely rough-hairy, rarely glabrous; margins entire; base rounded to heart-shaped, sessile; tip bluntly to sharply pointed.

Inflorescence

Cyme, narrow, compound, 6 to 12 inches long, 2 to 4 inches wide, terminal; flowers numerous; bracts paired, ovate, much reduced in size, resembling small leaves.

Flower

Showy; stalk .2 to .6 inch long, glandular-hairy; calyx tubular, .6 to 1 inch long, narrowed toward base, 5-toothed, prominently 10-nerved, green, pale between nerves; teeth triangular; petals 5, bright red, 1.2 to 1.6 inch long; claw approximately equal to calyx; blade .4 to .8 inch long, oblong to elliptic, entire or with few small teeth at tip; auricles prominent at juncture between blade and claw, 1/25 to 1/12 inch long; pair of tubular appendages, 1/12 to 1/6 inch long at juncture; stamens 10, exserted; styles 3-5.

Fruit

Capsule, egg-shaped, narrowed at both ends, about 1/6 inch long, 6-toothed, 1 compartment; seeds nearly kidney-shaped, about 1/12 inch long, dark reddish-brown, shiny.

Ecology

Habitat

Rocky open woods, thickets, dry prairies, woodland borders, bluff tops, roadsides, fencerows.

Distribution

Cherokee County, Cowley County

Additional Notes