Crusea simplex is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is an annual native to Mexico, Guatemala, and the southwestern United States.
Description Crusea simplex produces clusters of four-petaled tubular white flowers at the top of erect stems. Along green stems are small lanceolate-shaped leaves that grow opposite. Four white stamens with brownish-purple anthers stick out shortly above the opening of the flower. https://wildflowersearch.org/search?&tsn=501819 https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=1000
Range It can be found in Arizona and New Mexico in the southwestern US, across Mexico, and in Guatemala.
Habitat Can be found on moist soils in the bottom of canyons, on hillsides, and in open or wooded areas. https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/taxa/index.php?taxon=1000
Ecology Etymology Taxonomy The species was first described as Knoxia simplex by Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1818. In 2020 Joseph Harold Kirkbride and John Harry Wiersema placed the species in genus Crusea as C. simplex.
References