Chionophila
snowlover
erect, glabrous or puberulent.
basal and cauline, cauline smaller, opposite, sometimes alternate distally;
petiole present or absent;
blade not fleshy, ± leathery or not, margins entire.
terminal, spikelike, secund racemes;
bracts present.
present or absent;
bracteoles absent.
bisexual;
sepals 5, proximally connate, calyx radially symmetric, cylindric to funnelform, lobes triangular to narrowly ovate;
corolla greenish white, creamy white, or pale lavender, bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate, tubular-funnelform, tube base not spurred or gibbous, throat not densely pilose internally, lobes 5, abaxial 3, adaxial 2;
stamens 4, proximally adnate to corolla, didynamous, filaments glabrous;
staminode 1, ± filiform;
ovary 2-locular, placentation axile;
stigma capitate.
capsules, dehiscence septicidal.
10–20, tan or brown, ellipsoid to fusiform or ellipsoid-disciform, wings present.
= 8.
Chionophila
Species 2 (2 in the flora).
Chionophila shares morphological similarities with Penstemon, most notably an epistaminal nectary of glandular hairs. Both have a base chromosome number of eight. R. M. Straw (1966) hypothesized that they are sister taxa. Relationships among genera in Cheloneae remain equivocal (A. D. Wolfe et al. 1997, 2002, 2006; S. L. Datwyler and Wolfe 2004). Chionophila is distinguished from Penstemon by a more prominent calyx tube, spikelike racemes, prominently winged seeds, and absence of bracteoles.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Verticillasters continuous; calyx tubes 8–9 mm. | C. jamesii |
1. Verticillasters interrupted; calyx tubes 1–2 mm. | C. tweedyi |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
