Fine-leaf noseburn Fine-leaf noseburn

Tragia ramosa Torrey var. leptophylla Torrey in W. H. Emory, Bot. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 201. 1859; T. stylaris Müller Arg. var. leptophylla (Torrey) Müller Arg.

Herbs, 1–4.5 dm. Stems erect, brownish red to maroon-green, apex never flexuous. Leaves: petiole 0.5–2 mm; blade acicular to narrowly oblong, 1–6 × 0.2–0.6 cm, base acute to subcuneate, margins usually entire, sometimes serrulate, apex acute to obtuse. Inflorescences terminal (appearing leaf opposed) or axillary, glands absent, staminate flowers 2–3(–5) per raceme; staminate bracts 2–2.5 mm. Pedicels: staminate 1–2 mm, persistent base 0.5–0.8 mm, pistillate 2–3 mm in fruit. Staminate flowers: sepals 3–4(–5), green, 1–2.5 mm; stamens 3–4, filaments 1.2–1.4 mm, connate basally. Pistillate flowers: sepals lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm; styles connate 1/5 length; stigmas undulate to slightly papillate. Capsules 4–5 mm wide. Seeds mottled dark olive brown, 2.5–3 mm.

Flowering spring–fall; fruiting late spring and fall. Dry streams and river margins with limestone cobble substrates; 400–700 m; Tex.

Tragia leptophylla is known from the western part of the Edwards Plateau region in west-central Texas. K. I. Miller and G. L. Webster (1967) did not recognize T. leptophylla as a distinct species; they treated it as a synonym of T. ramosa. Tragia leptophylla differs from T. ramosa in its less branching habit, dark reddish stems, usually entire leaf blade margins, fewer staminate flowers per inflorescence, and riparian limestone cobble habitat.