Queen's delight

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Queen's delight

Queen's delight

Queen's delight

Queen's delight leaves

Queen's delight flowers

Queen's delight

Queen's delight inflorescence

Queen's delight

Queen's delight inflorescence

Morphology

Stem

Erect, several to many, unbranched, bright green, glabrous, somewhat succulent; sap milky; base woody.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, ascending, highly variable; blades narrowly elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, 1.4 to 4.8 inches long, 1/4 to 1 inch wide, pointed at both ends; margins toothed or scalloped, bearing small glands; stalks to 1/4 inch long; stipules gland-like.

Inflorescence

Spike-like, terminal; monoecious; pistillate flowers below, staminate flowers near tip.

Flower

Greenish; calyces cup-like; petals absent; calyx of pistillate flowers deeply 3-lobed; lobes to 1/12 inch long; styles 3, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long; staminate flowers with 2 stamens.

Fruit

Capsule, rounded, 3-lobed 2/5 to 3/5 inch wide, smooth, 3-seeded; seeds ovate-oblong, 1/3 inch long, whitish, smooth.

Ecology

Habitat

Sandy prairies, waste places, roadsides, stream banks, sand dunes; dry, sandy soil.

Distribution

South 1/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

Queen's delight was used in treatments of diarrhea, appetite loss and venereal disease. The Kiowa considered the plant an indicator of precipitation. They would note when turtles took refuge in the shade of the plant.

Additional Notes