Slender threadplant facts for kids

Nemacladus gracilis, also called the slender threadplant or slender nemacladus, is a special kind of flowering plant. It belongs to the bellflower family. This plant is quite rare to find.

Meet the Slender Threadplant

The slender threadplant is a small, unique plant. It gets its name because its stems and flower stalks are very thin, like threads. It's an annual herb, which means it grows from a seed, flowers, produces new seeds, and then dies all within one year.

Where Does It Live?

This plant is found only in California. When a plant or animal lives only in one specific area, we say it is endemic to that place. You can find the slender threadplant in the Transverse Ranges and nearby mountains. It also grows in desert areas and valleys.

Preferred Homes

The slender threadplant likes to grow in rocky and sandy places. It can be found in woodlands, which are areas with many trees. It also lives in grasslands, which are open areas covered mostly by grass.

What Does It Look Like?

The slender threadplant is a tiny plant. Its main stem is usually reddish-brown. It grows straight up and is not very tall, usually less than 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) long. That's shorter than a standard pencil!

Leaves and Flowers

At the bottom of the plant, you'll find small leaves. These leaves are oval-shaped and have little rounded edges, like tiny scallops. Each leaf is less than a centimeter long, so they are very small.

The plant's flowers grow on a special stem called an inflorescence. This stem has many thin branches. Each branch holds a few flowers on very thin, curving stalks called pedicels. At the base of each pedicel, there's a single, tiny leaf-like part called a bract.

The flowers themselves are super tiny, only about 2 millimeters long. They are mostly white, but they have cool lavender-colored lines, like veins, on their petals. The flower has five parts, called lobes, that are joined together at the bottom half.