Flora of North America species comparison

erect, fleshy, glabrous.

1–3, dark wine red or purple, unbranched, 9–38 cm, with rhizomelike cylindric to globular base 10–25(–40) mm diam.

cauline, spiral, proximally imbricate, less so distally;

petiole absent;

blade stiffly chartaceous, margins entire.

yellow or wine red;

blade triangular, lanceolate, or ovate, 3–10 mm.

terminal, dense spikes;

bracts present.

dark purple or red, 10–25 mm diam.;

bracts yellow or yellow-tipped, sometimes translucent, triangular, lanceolate, or ovate, margins erose or ciliolate, apex acute or acuminate, rarely rounded.

absent;

bracteoles absent.

sepals 4 or 5, calyx bilaterally symmetric, cup-shaped, lobes triangular-acuminate;

petals 5, corolla dark red or dark purple, strongly bilabiate, cucullate, short-tubular, palatal folds absent, abaxial lobes 0 or 3, adaxial 2, adaxial lip entire or with shallow notch;

stamens 4, didynamous, included, filaments glabrous;

staminode 0;

ovary 1-locular, placentation parietal;

stigma 2–4-lobed, broadly clavate-crateriform or nearly capitate.

calyx purple or red-brown, cleft adaxially, 3–6 mm;

corolla 8–13 mm, glabrous except margins, tube base ± inflated, abaxial lobes 0–1 mm, margins white-ciliate;

stamens included or exserted;

ovary ovoid;

style base persistent on fruit.

dehiscence loculicidal.

subglobular, 5–6 × 5–6 mm, apex beaked.

2000–2500, light tan or brown, irregularly columnar or oblong-ellipsoid, wings absent.

0.5–0.7 × 0.2–0.3 mm, reticulate, foveate.