Tragia Species, Branched Noseburn, Desert Noseburn, Desert Tragia

Tragia grows in my rocky hillside pasture in Central Texas, zone 8a, and is one of the only things my chickens won't eat. Not knowing wha...Read Moret it was, I bent down to examine it, touching the stems and leaves to get a better look. Ouch! It stings, and while it was not unbearably painful, it lasted more than 12 hours. It also seems to reseed quite freely, and since the chickens won't touch it (smart!) it has no competition. I've been going at it with the horticultural vinegar because I don't wan't a pasture full of it, even if it's a pollinator plant.

I have not grown this plant. Branched noseburn (Tragia ramosa; synonyms: Tragia nepetifolia var. leptophylla, Tragia nepetifolia var. ra...Read Moremosa, Traiga stylaris) is also known by the common names catnip noseburn, netleaf noseburn, noseburn, ortiguilla, chichicastle and Ranuriki. It is native to Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Neveda, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. The leaves, stalks and fruit are covered in stiff, stinging, long hairs. The crinkly edged, lanceolate to ovate, sharply toothed leaves are about 1.5 " long. The male and female blooms lack petals and are on the same plant. The structure that resembles a flower petal is made up of a nectar gland and a gland appendage. The nectar glands attract insects. They are about 1/16" wide. There are 2–4 staminate flowers and 1 pistillate flower per inflorescence. The 3 to 4 mm, 6 to 8 mm wide, depressed-spheric, finely bristled fruit is a 3-lobed pod that grows out on a stem. Part of the flower remains attached to the fruit. This plant serves as a larval food source for the Blue-Eyed Sailor, Common Mestra and Red Rim butterflies.