Burke: Eremogone franklinii vs. Eremogone aculeata

	Eremogone franklinii	Eremogone aculeata
	Franklin's sandwort	needle-leaf sandwort, prickly sandwort
Habit	Tufted, glabrous perennial from a taproot and branched base, the numerous stems prostrate or spreading, covered with last year\\\\'s leaves; flowering stems erect, 3-6 cm. tall, brittle.	Tufted perennial from a freely-branched, woody base, forming mats 5-15 cm. broad; flowering stems numerous, 10-20 cm. tall, glandular-pubescent with dark-tipped hairs.
Leaves	Cauline leaves numerous, over-lapping, needle-like, 10-20 mm. long, their tips spreading.	Leaves mostly basal, forming thick, prickly cushions, rigid and sharp-pointed, spreading, narrowly linear, 1-2 cm. long and less than 0.5 mm. wide; cauline leaves few, 1-2 pairs, greatly reduced.
Flowers	Flowers several in a congested cluster, the pedicels about 2 mm. long; sepals 5, lanceolate, pointed, glabrous, 1-nerved, scarious-margined, 5-12 mm. long; petals 5, white, narrowly oblanceolate, often shorter than the sepals; stamens 10; styles 3.	Flowers several to numerous, in open, diffuse cymes; sepals 5, broadly ovate, 3-4 mm. long, obtuse, wing-margined and purplish-tinged; petals 5, white, nearly twice as long as the sepals; stamens 10; styles 3.
Fruits	Capsule half as long as the sepals, opening by 6 teeth.	Capsule ovoid, about the length of the calyx, dehiscent by 6 teeth.

	Eremogone franklinii	Eremogone aculeata
Flowering time	May-June	June-August
Habitat	Sand dunes, scabland, and sagebrush slopes.	Gravelly sagebrush-covered hills from moderate elevations to the alpine.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in central Washington; Washington to Oregon, east to Idaho and Nevada. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in southeastern Washington; southeastern Washington to California, east to Montana, Utah, and Nevada. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	E. aculeata, E. capillaris, E. congesta	E. capillaris, E. congesta, E. franklinii
Subordinate taxa	E. franklinii var. franklinii, E. franklinii var. thompsonii
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) 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 WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Eremogone franklinii

Eremogone aculeata

Franklin's sandwort

needle-leaf sandwort, prickly sandwort

Habit

Tufted, glabrous perennial from a taproot and branched base, the numerous stems prostrate or spreading, covered with last year\\\\'s leaves; flowering stems erect, 3-6 cm. tall, brittle.

Tufted perennial from a freely-branched, woody base, forming mats 5-15 cm. broad; flowering stems numerous, 10-20 cm. tall, glandular-pubescent with dark-tipped hairs.

Leaves

Cauline leaves numerous, over-lapping, needle-like, 10-20 mm. long, their tips spreading.

Leaves mostly basal, forming thick, prickly cushions, rigid and sharp-pointed, spreading, narrowly linear, 1-2 cm. long and less than 0.5 mm. wide;

cauline leaves few, 1-2 pairs, greatly reduced.

Flowers

Flowers several in a congested cluster, the pedicels about 2 mm. long;

sepals 5, lanceolate, pointed, glabrous, 1-nerved, scarious-margined, 5-12 mm. long;

petals 5, white, narrowly oblanceolate, often shorter than the sepals;

stamens 10;

styles 3.

Flowers several to numerous, in open, diffuse cymes;

sepals 5, broadly ovate, 3-4 mm. long, obtuse, wing-margined and purplish-tinged;