Flora of North America species comparison

several, erect to weakly ascending, often leaning on nearby shrubs, much-branched, often with short, leafy axillary shoots, hairs sparse, spreading, short or long, soft, branched or unbranched, eglandular.

gray-green or green to purple to ± deep red, linear or linear-lanceolate, 2–5 cm, not fleshy, margins plane to ± wavy, flat or involute, 3–5(–7)-lobed, apex acuminate to acute;

lobes spreading-ascending, sometimes widely so, narrowly linear, apex acute or obtuse.

3–20 × 0.5–1.5 cm;

bracts green throughout, sometimes tinged dull purple, proximal sometimes linear-lanceolate, distal or all bracts oblong, 3–5(–7)-lobed;

lobes spreading to ascending, linear to oblanceolate, short to long, proximal lobes arising near mid length, sometimes wavy-margined, central lobe apex rounded to truncate, lateral ones obtuse to rounded.

straight, 13–20 mm;

tube 5–7 mm;

beak short-exserted, sometimes shorter than abaxial calyx segments, adaxially yellow, rarely greenish, 7–10 mm;

abaxial lip pale green to yellowish, reduced, 0.5–1.5 mm, 7–17% as long as beak;

teeth reduced to apiculations, pale green to yellowish, 0.5–0.8 mm.

light green, cream, or light yellow, often appearing white from dense white-woolly pubescence, 10–18 mm;

abaxial clefts 5–6.5 mm, closed by intertwined hairs and appearing 2 mm deep, adaxial 2.2–4.2 mm, abaxial ca. 25% of calyx length, adaxial ca. 20% of calyx length, shallower (or appearing much shallower), than laterals, lateral 4.6–7.5 mm, ca. 50% of calyx length;

lobes: abaxial segments broad, paddle-shaped, 7 mm, inner surface of abaxial segments densely white-woolly, apex rounded to broadly obtuse, adaxial narrowly triangular, 5 mm, apex acute.