Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Small annual herb to 0.5 m, stems and leaves strigose, simply branching from the base or stem, stems and leaves bright green.

Leaves: Basal leaves oblanceolate, sessile or on shote petioles, with 5-8 teeth along each side, to 24 mm long, upper leaves ovate with acute tips and crenate margins, to 20 mm long, and 15 mm wide.

Flowers: Bright purple, older and uppermost flowers with 5 lanceolate petals, styles prominent and white, 1-3 flowers per node. Inflorescences subtended by clasping, leafy bracts, often cupping around the entire base of the inflorescence, bright green with toothed margins.

Fruits: Most fruits produced in the upper 1/3 of the inflorescence, fruits ellipsoid or oblong capsules, capsules having tiny linear pores to 0.5 mm, seeds with low tubercles in longitudinal lines.

Ecology: Found in dry, gravelly or sandy soils in canyons and washes, flowering spring and early summer from 4,000-6,000 ft (1219-1829 m), flowering April-July.

Notes: This plant is notable for its leafy, auriculate bracts and star-shaped, purple flowers. The key to this species are the small linear pores of the capsules, and the seeds with their nodules (tubercles), arranged in longitudinal lines.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Synonyms: None

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011

Etymology: Triodanis comes from Greek treis, "three," and odons, "tooth," hence "three-toothed", while holzingeri is named for John Michael Holzinger, a 19th century German born, American bryologist.