Chorizanthe blakleyi |
Chorizanthe watsonii |
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Blakley's spineflower |
five-tooth spineflower, Watson's spineflower |
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Habit | Plants spreading to ascending, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–3 dm, thinly pubescent. | Plants spreading to erect, 0.2–1(–1.5) × 0.2–1(–1.5) dm, densely canescent-strigose. |
Leaves | basal; petiole 0.5–2 cm; blade oblanceolate, 0.5–2.5 × 0.3–0.8 cm, thinly pubescent. |
basal or nearly so; petiole (0.5–)1–2.5(–3) cm; blade oblanceolate, (0.3–)0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.2–0.4(–0.5) cm, thinly floccose to sparsely tomentose. |
Inflorescences | with involucres in dense clusters 1–2 cm diam., yellowish green; bracts 2, without whorl of sessile bracts about midstem, usually leaflike, oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5 cm × 1.5–3 mm, gradually reduced and becoming scalelike at distal nodes, linear, aciculate, acerose, 0.3–0.8 cm × 1–2 mm, awns straight, 1–2.5 mm. |
with involucres in small clusters 0.5–1 cm diam., greenish to reddish; bracts 2, with laminar ones oblanceolate, (0.5–)0.8–1.5(–2) cm × (1–)2–4 mm, those at distal nodes becoming sessile, reduced and scalelike, linear-lanceolate, acicular, awns slightly curved, 0.5–1 mm. |
Involucres | 3–10+, yellowish green, urceolate, slightly ventricose basally, 3–4.5 mm, slightly corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly pubescent; teeth spreading, unequal, 1–3 mm; awns straight or uncinate with longer anterior one straight or slightly curved, mostly 2 mm, others uncinate, 0.5–1.5 mm. |
1, green, cylindric, 5-ribbed, 3–4.5 mm, finely corrugate, pubescent; teeth 5, erect, unequal, with leaflike, narrowly lanceolate, 2–6 mm anterior tooth, others linear, 1–2 mm; awn uncinate, 0.4–0.8(–1) mm. |
Flowers | exserted; perianth bicolored with floral tube greenish white to white and the lobes white to pinkish, cylindric, 5–6 mm, sparsely pubescent; tepals connate 2/3 their length, dimorphic, obovate, those of outer whorl erect, slightly longer than those of inner whorl, 2-lobed apically, those of inner whorl erect, 2-lobed, erose apically; stamens 9, included; filaments distinct, 5–5.5 mm, glabrous; anthers yellow to golden, oblong, 1–1.2 mm. |
1, included to slightly exserted; perianth yellow, cylindric, 1.5–2.5 mm, thinly pubescent abaxially; tepals connate ca. 2/3 their length, monomorphic, oblong, acute, entire apically, mostly erect; stamens 3 or 9, slightly exserted; filaments distinct, 0.8–1 mm, glabrous; anthers yellow, ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm. |
Achenes | brown, globose-lenticular, 3–3.5 mm. |
brown, lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
2n | = ca. 38. |
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Chorizanthe blakleyi |
Chorizanthe watsonii |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Jul. | Flowering Apr–Aug. |
Habitat | Sandy or gravelly flats and slopes, chaparral communities, oak woodlands | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands |
Elevation | 600-1600 m (2000-5200 ft) | 300-2400 m (1000-7900 ft) |
Distribution |
CA |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; OR; UT; WA
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Discussion | Of conservation concern. Chorizanthe blakleyi is known only from north-facing slopes and foothills of the Sierra Madre. The species is rare and localized. The yellowish green stem, branches, and involucres readily distinguish it. The white flowers align it with C. obovata. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Chorizanthe watsonii is widely distributed in the cold desert of the Great Basin and in the northern part of the warmer Mojave Desert. Plants in the northern part of the range (especially on the Palouse Prairie of south-eastern Washington) usually have three stamens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 459. | FNA vol. 5, p. 468. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Hardham: Leafl. W. Bot. 10: 95. (1964) | Torrey & A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 199. (1870) |
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