Ribbed fringepod facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ribbed fringepod |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Thysanocarpus
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| Species: |
radians
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The Thysanocarpus radians, also known as the ribbed fringepod, is a fascinating flowering plant. It belongs to the Brassicaceae family, which is also called the mustard family. This plant is native to parts of California and Oregon in North America.
You can often find the ribbed fringepod growing in damp places. It likes moist meadows, open fields, and hillsides. This plant is an annual herb, which means it lives for only one growing season, usually sprouting from a seed, growing, flowering, producing seeds, and then dying within a year.
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What Does the Ribbed Fringepod Look Like?
The ribbed fringepod can grow to be about 50 to 60 centimeters tall. That's about as tall as a large ruler! Its leaves have wavy edges or are slightly lobed.
Leaves and Flowers
The leaves at the bottom of the plant are usually up to 5 centimeters long. These lower leaves don't last very long. The leaves higher up on the stem have bases that wrap around the stem.
The plant's flowers grow in a long, open cluster called a raceme. Imagine small flowers lined up along a central stem. These tiny flowers can be whitish or have a light purplish color.
The Ribbed Fringepod's Special Fruit
One of the most interesting parts of the ribbed fringepod is its fruit. It's a flat, round, disc-shaped seed pod. This pod hangs down from a small stalk called a pedicel.
Unique Features of the Fruit
The fruit can be up to one centimeter long. Its surface can be smooth or quite hairy. What makes it truly special is the flat wing around the edge of the disc. This wing has ribs that look like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.
These "spokes" are a key feature that helps people tell the ribbed fringepod apart from other plants in the Thysanocarpus group. You can easily spot it when it has its unique, wheel-like fruits!
