Hedeoma hispida (Rough Pennyroyal) - photos and description
One form of flower for this plant is closed and self-pollinating
One form of flower for this plant is two-lipped
General: Low-growing, erect annual, unbranched or branched at the bottom. Stems pubescent.
Flowers: Flowers grow in whorls of four in leaf axils. Flowers were pinkish-blue to purplish-blue. The flowers are described in some field guides as two-lipped, other authorities describe this plant has having two forms of flowers: 1) open for pollination, and, 2) closed and self-pollinating. We have observed and photographed both of these forms of flowers for this plant. We measured the corolla of the closed form of the flower at 1 mm long, and the corolla of the open form of the flower at 3 mm long; we measured the calyx at 3 mm long.
Leaves: Most leaves are opposite and linear; the lowest leaves are elliptical. Leaves are entire and punctate (dotted with pits). Leaf margins, leaf bottom, and calyx all pubescent. We measured a leaf at 12 mm long by 2 mm wide.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 20 cm. We measured plants from only 3 cm to 5.5 cm tall.
Habitat: Sandy soils, eroded slopes, dry prairie, abandoned fields.
Abundance: Ranked as an S4 (= fairly common) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos June 24th, growing in disturbed soil on prairie cow path, on hillside beside lake, about 125 km west of Regina, SK, and July 19th, short grass prairie in the Frenchman River Valley about 350 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.