Burke: Arnica lanceolata vs. Arnica nevadensis

	Arnica lanceolata	Arnica nevadensis
	clasping arnica, stream bank arnica	Nevada arnica, Sierra arnica, Sierran leopardbane
Habit	Perennial from a freely-rooting rhizome, 3-8 dm. tall, more or less glandular and hairy.	Perennial from long, naked, branched rhizomes, 1-3 dm. tall, glandular throughout, the stems often solitary.
Leaves	Cauline leaves 5-12 pairs, not much reduced upward, narrowly lance-elliptic or lance-ovate, sessile, more or less toothed, 5-12 cm. long and 1.2-6 cm. wide.	Cauline leaves 2-3 pairs, the lower larger and petiolate, the blade broadly ovate with rounded to sub-cordate base, 3-7 cm. long and 2-4 cm. wide; the long-petiolate basal leaves, similar to the lower leaves, often on separate short shoots.
Flowers	Heads several; involucre 9-15 mm. high, its bracts sharply pointed; rays 8-14, pale yellow, 1-2 cm. long; pappus tawny, sub-plumose.	Heads 1-3; involucre 10-15 mm. high, densely covered with short-stalked glands; pappus white to straw-colored, strongly barbellate.
Fruits	Achenes sparsely hirsute and sometimes glandular.	Achenes uniformly glandular or short hairy or both.

	Arnica lanceolata	Arnica nevadensis
Identification notes		The similar Arnica cordifolia has copius long, white hairs on the involucre, while A. nevadensis is only glandular; also, A. nevadensis has entire leaves, while A. cordifolia usually has toothed leaves.
Flowering time	June-August	June-August
Habitat	Streambanks, moist woods and meadows from middle elevations to the subalpine.	Open, rocky slopes and forest openings in the subalpine and alpine.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington, including the Olympic Mountains and the northeastern region; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, also in northeastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring in the Cascades and Olympic mountains in Washington; Washington to California, east to Nevada. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	A. chamissonis, A. cordifolia, A. discoidea, A. fulgens, A. gracilis, A. latifolia, A. longifolia, A. mollis, A. nevadensis, A. ovata, A. parryi, A. rydbergii, A. sororia	A. chamissonis, A. cordifolia, A. discoidea, A. fulgens, A. gracilis, A. lanceolata, A. latifolia, A. longifolia, A. mollis, A. ovata, A. parryi, A. rydbergii, A. sororia
Subordinate taxa	A. lanceolata ssp. prima
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Arnica nevadensis

clasping arnica, stream bank arnica

Nevada arnica, Sierra arnica, Sierran leopardbane

Habit

Perennial from a freely-rooting rhizome, 3-8 dm. tall, more or less glandular and hairy.

Perennial from long, naked, branched rhizomes, 1-3 dm. tall, glandular throughout, the stems often solitary.

Leaves

Cauline leaves 5-12 pairs, not much reduced upward, narrowly lance-elliptic or lance-ovate, sessile, more or less toothed, 5-12 cm. long and 1.2-6 cm. wide.

Cauline leaves 2-3 pairs, the lower larger and petiolate, the blade broadly ovate with rounded to sub-cordate base, 3-7 cm. long and 2-4 cm. wide; the long-petiolate basal leaves, similar to the lower leaves, often on separate short shoots.

Flowers

Heads several;

involucre 9-15 mm. high, its bracts sharply pointed;

rays 8-14, pale yellow, 1-2 cm. long;

pappus tawny, sub-plumose.

Heads 1-3;

involucre 10-15 mm. high, densely covered with short-stalked glands;

pappus white to straw-colored, strongly barbellate.

Fruits

Achenes sparsely hirsute and sometimes glandular.

Achenes uniformly glandular or short hairy or both.

Arnica lanceolata

Arnica nevadensis

Identification notes

The similar Arnica cordifolia has copius long, white hairs on the involucre, while A. nevadensis is only glandular; also, A. nevadensis has entire leaves, while A. cordifolia usually has toothed leaves.

Flowering time

June-August

Habitat

Streambanks, moist woods and meadows from middle elevations to the subalpine.

Open, rocky slopes and forest openings in the subalpine and alpine.

Distribution

Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington, including the Olympic Mountains and the northeastern region; Alaska to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, also in northeastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]