Cerastium texanum |
Cerastium viride |
|
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Chihuahuan mouse-ear chickweed, Texas chickweed, Texas mouse-ear chickweed |
field chickweed, western field mouse-ear chickweed |
|
Habit | Plants annual, with slender taproot and branched caudex. | Plants perennial, mat-forming, strongly long-creeping rhizomatous. |
Stems | erect, sparingly branched proximally, slender, 15–35 cm, sparsely glandular-pilose; small axillary tufts of leaves absent. |
flowering stems ascending from elongate decumbent bases, branched, 15–45 cm, viscid, glandular in distal and mid-stem region, proximal portion with deflexed, long, soft, eglandular hairs, mostly in alternating longitudinal lines; nonflowering shoots horizontal, leafy. |
Leaves | not marcescent; proximal blades broadly spatulate-petiolate, 8–55 × 3–16 mm, apex acute or obtuse, sometimes short-acuminate, softly pilose; cauline few, sessile, blade linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 7–30 mm, apex acute, pilose. |
sometimes marces-cent, sessile, highly variable; blade tending to be succulent, pubescent on both surfaces or ± glabrous abaxially except on midrib and margins; leaves of mid and distal stem largest, blade ovate-lanceolata to linear-lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 15–42 × 3.5–7 mm, apex acute; proximal leaves smaller, with tufts of small leaves in their axils, blade oblanceolate to linear-oblong, 10–30 × 2–7 mm, often spatulate, apex ± obtuse. |
Inflorescences | very open and loose, 2–9(–25)-flowered cymes; bracts narrowly lanceolate, pilose. |
lax, 1–12-flowered cymes; bracts glandular-pubescent, proximal bract often foliaceous, broadly lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate; distal bracts lance-elliptic to lanceolate, margins narrow, scarious. |
Pedicels | straight, becoming sharply deflexed at base, slender, 5–20 mm, elongating in fruit, 1.5–4 times as long as sepals, glandular-pilose. |
straight or sometimes curving near apex in fruit, tending to be stout, 10–35 mm, ca. 2–4 times as long as capsules, rarely more, pubescence dense, glandular, viscid. |
Flowers | sepals green, turning pale orange-brown in fruit, lanceolate to ovate, 3–6 mm, margins narrow, apex acute, with short, glandular pubescence; petals oblanceolate, 5–8 mm, 1.5–2 times as long as sepals, apex 2-fid; stamens 5; styles 5. |
large and showy; sepals lanceolate, 6–9 mm, margins broad, apex acute, densely glandular-pubescent, viscid; petals broadly oblanceolate, large, 10–15 mm, 2–3 times as long as sepals, apex 2-fid; stamens 10; anthers 0.9–1.2 mm; styles 5. |
Capsules | cylindric, straight, 5–12 mm, 1.5–2 times as long as sepals; teeth 10, becoming outwardly coiled. |
broadly cylindric, ca. straight, 8–15 × 4–5 mm, 1.5–2 times as long as sepals; teeth 10, erect, margins convolute. |
Seeds | red-brown, 0.4–0.7 mm diam., tuberculate; tubercles ± pointed; testa not inflated. |
reddish brown, 1–1.5 mm, tuberculate; testa not inflated, tightly enclosing seed. |
2n | = 36. |
= 72. |
Cerastium texanum |
Cerastium viride |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Canyons, sandy washes, oak woodlands, mountain pine forests | Grassy slopes on coast, grassy and rocky slopes inland |
Elevation | 1200-2800 m (3900-9200 ft) | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; NM; Mexico
|
CA; OR
|
Discussion | Cerastium texanum is exceptionally variable in flower and capsule size. The extent to which this variation is due to environmental conditions or is genic in origin is not known. The broad, spatulate basal leaves and the straight, cylindric capsule with its outwardly coiled (revolute) teeth distinguish this species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Some forms of Cerastium viride can be difficult to distinguish from larger forms of C. arvense subsp. strictum, but the broader capsule and leaves usually are diagnostic. In rare cases, chromosome number or pollen size [38–70 (average 43) µ in C. viride versus 28–40 (average 34) µ in C. arvense subsp. strictum] may be needed to confirm identification. Some of the inland material from Catsop County, Oregon, is atypical in having more slender pedicels, longer and softer pubescence, and more acute sepals. Cerastium viride often has been treated as a variety or subspecies of C. arvense. It differs from the native C. arvense subsp. strictum in being much larger in all its parts, and in chromosome number (2n = 72 in C. viride, 36 in C. arvense subsp. strictum). The two taxa do not hybridize in the wild and attempts to cross them in cultivation have failed. The introduced C. arvense subsp. arvense may be confused with C. viride. Both are strongly rhizomatous and the ranges of measurements for key characters overlap. However, the two taxa have different appearances, C. arvense subsp. arvense being a more slender plant with narrow leaves that are never succulent. In contrast, C. viride tends to be larger in all its parts, with sturdier, decumbent stems, and usually succulent leaves. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 90. | FNA vol. 5, p. 92. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Cerastium | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Cerastium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. longepedunculatum var. sordidum, C. sordidum, Stellaria montana | C. arvense subsp. maximum, C. arvense var. maximum |
Name authority | Britton: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 15: 97. (1888) | A. Heller: Muhlenbergia 2: 281. (1907) |
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