Lappula occidentalis(S.Watson) Greene

flatspine stickseed

WFO wfo-0001215546 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Robbie Hannawacker
fig. a Robbie Hannawacker, CC0 1.0 / 2022-05-05 / obs. 195188344
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Andrew Tree
fig. b Andrew Tree, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 185080259
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Jason Grant
fig. c Jason Grant, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 143569929
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by lejones417
fig. d lejones417, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 140528808
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Brian Finzel
fig. e Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 174082034
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Catherine C. Galley
fig. f Catherine C. Galley, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 123339726
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Eric Knight
fig. g Eric Knight, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 123610674
Lappula occidentalis, photographed by Annika Lindqvist
fig. h Annika Lindqvist, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 123723254

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 35 botanical countries

Regions where Lappula occidentalis is native: Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Manitoba, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Oklahoma, Oregon, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Chile South AlaskaAlbertaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoIdahoIowaKansasManitobaMexico NortheastMexico NorthwestMinnesotaMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoNorth DakotaNorthwest TerritoriesOklahomaOregonSaskatchewanSouth DakotaTexasUtahWashingtonWisconsinWyomingYukonArgentina NortheastArgentina NorthwestArgentina SouthChile South
Native distribution of Lappula occidentalis, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Manitoba MAN
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Northwest MXN
Minnesota MIN
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
Nevada NEV
New Mexico NWM
North Dakota NDA
Northwest Territories NWT
Oklahoma OKL
Oregon ORE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Argentina Northeast AGE SOUTHERN AMERICA
Argentina Northwest AGW
Argentina South AGS
Chile South CLS

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 119 in flower of 132 examined

Peak flowering in Apr. Each bar is the share of Lappula occidentalis observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 119 of 132 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 7 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 27 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Echinospermum brachycentrum var. brachystylum A.Gray
  • Echinospermum coronatum (Greene) K.Schum.
  • Echinospermum cupulatum K.Schum.
  • Echinospermum desertorum (Greene) K.Schum.
  • Echinospermum heterospermum (Greene) K.Schum.
  • Echinospermum occidentale (S.Watson) K.Schum.
  • Echinospermum redowskii var. cupulatum A.Gray
  • Echinospermum redowskii var. occidentale S.Watson
  • Echinospermum scabrosum Buckley
  • Echinospermum texanum Scheele
  • Lappula brachystyla (A.Gray) J.F.Macbr.
  • Lappula coronata Greene
  • Lappula cupulata (A.Gray) Rydb.
  • Lappula desertorum Greene
  • Lappula echinata f. cupulata (A.Gray) B.Boivin
  • Lappula echinata var. occidentalis (S.Watson) B.Boivin
  • Lappula heterosperma Greene
  • Lappula leucotricha Rydb.
  • Lappula patagonica Macloskie & Dusén
  • Lappula redowskii f. cupulata (A.Gray) Scoggan
  • Lappula redowskii var. cupulata (A.Gray) M.E.Jones
  • Lappula redowskii var. desertorum I.M.Johnst.
  • Lappula redowskii var. occidentalis (S.Watson) Rydb.
  • Lappula redowskii var. texana (Scheele) Brand

and 3 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.