Flora of North America species comparison

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Amsonia palmeri

Palmer's bluestar
Stems

erect, 23–62(–80) cm, glabrous or moderately (somewhat densely or sparsely) pubescent;

branches usually borne on distal portion of stem (occasionally below midpoint), not or slightly exceeding infructescence.
Leaves

petiole 0–2(–3) mm, glabrous or moderately (sparsely) pubescent;

blades heteromorphic or all very narrow;

stem leaf blades narrowly oblong-elliptic to narrowly oblong, narrowly lanceolate, or linear, 4.5–7.5(–9.2) cm × 2–18 mm, margins entire, sometimes slightly revolute, moderately short-ciliate if leaf blade is pubescent, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces glabrous or moderately (sparsely) pubescent;

branch leaf blades very narrowly lanceolate or very narrowly elliptic to linear, 3.5–6(–6.8) cm × 1–5(–7) mm.
Flowers

sepals narrowly deltate to subulate, (2–)3–5(–7) mm;

corolla tube bluish or purplish green or green, 7.5–12(–17) mm, lobes white to blue or yellowish white, (2.5–)3–5(–7) mm, outer surface of corolla glabrous.
Seeds

6–10 × 1–2.5 mm.
Follicles

erect, 2–10(–13) cm × 2–4 mm, apex acuminate, glabrous.

Amsonia palmeri
Phenology Flowering spring; fruiting late spring–summer.
Habitat Rocky hillsides, arroyos and draws, woodlands, washes and flood plains.
Elevation 600–1900 m. (2000–6200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Leaf morphology and pubescence are quite variable in Amsonia palmeri; if stem leaves are broad, then the plant is noticeably heterophyllous at maturity with narrow branch leaves. Glabrous and pubescent individuals often occur in mixed populations (S. P. McLaughlin 1982). The species can be distinguished from A. tharpii in part by the adaxial base of the corolla lobes being glabrous (vs. frequently pubescent in A. tharpii). Amsonia palmeri is fairly widespread in Arizona, especially in southern and western counties, but is confined to limited portions of southwestern New Mexico and western Texas.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Apocynaceae > Amsonia > subg. Sphinctosiphon
Sibling taxa
A. arenaria, A. ciliata, A. fugatei, A. grandiflora, A. hubrichtii, A. jonesii, A. kearneyana, A. longiflora, A. ludoviciana, A. peeblesii, A. rigida, A. tabernaemontana, A. tharpii, A. tomentosa
Synonyms A. hirtella, A. hirtella var. pogonosepala
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 12: 64. (1876)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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