Slender Spiderling

This species of plant is an annual herb that is somewhat variable in appearance, but in general it is loosely clumping, raising erect stems up to half a metre in height. It has lance-shaped, wavy-margined leaves and bears a branching inflorescence of clustered or singular flowers, each pale pink flower only one or two millimetres across. The clustered fruits that appear afterwards are tiny club-shaped, ridged achenes less than 3 mm long. This is a hardy plant, growing in arid, rocky, or disturbed areas, and often showing up as a roadside weed.

This species is a fairly widespread in the south-western United States and northern Mexico. It is native to California and Arizona, in habitats of the Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert.