Chorizanthe clevelandii |
Chorizanthe procumbens |
|
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Cleveland's spineflower |
prostrate spineflower |
|
Habit | Plants spreading to decumbent, 0.2–0.8(–1) × 0.5–5(–7) dm, appressed-pubescent. | Plants prostrate to decumbent, 0.2–0.8 × 0.5–4(–5) dm, thinly pubescent. |
Leaves | basal; petiole 0.5–2 mm; blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.3–0.6(–0.8) cm, thinly pubescent. |
basal; petiole 0.5–2(–3) cm; blade oblanceolate, (0.5–)1–3(–4) × 0.1–0.7(–1.2) cm, thinly pubescent. |
Inflorescences | with involucres in small, open clusters 0.5–1.5 cm diam., greenish or grayish to reddish; bracts 2, sessile, usually leaflike, oblanceolate to elliptic, 0.5–1.5 cm × 1.5–5 mm, gradually reduced and becoming scalelike at distal nodes, linear, aciculate, acerose, 0.4–1 cm × 1–2(–3) mm, awns straight, 1–3 mm. |
with involucres in small, open clusters 0.3–1 cm diam., greenish yellow to green or reddish green; bracts 2, sessile, leaflike and similar to proximal leaf blades only reduced, linear-oblanceolate to elliptic, 0.3–1(–1.5) cm × 1.5–5(–8) mm, rapidly reduced and scalelike at distal nodes, linear, acicular, often acerose, 0.1–0.5 cm × (0.3–)0.5–3 mm, awns straight, 0.2–1 mm. |
Involucres | 3–10, grayish to reddish, urceolate, slightly ventricose basally, 3–3.5 mm, slightly corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, densely pubescent; teeth widely spreading to divergent, unequal, 0.3–0.6 mm or 3–6 mm; awns uncinate, unequal, with longer anterior one 1.5–2.5 mm, others spreading, 0.3–0.6 mm. |
3–10, rarely more, greenish yellow to reddish green, cylindric or narrowly to broadly campanulate, not ventricose,1.5–3 mm, faintly corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly pubescent with spreading hairs, longest hairs on ribs and at base; teeth spreading, equal, 1–2.5 mm, or divergent, thickened basally, unequal, 1–2 mm or 2.5–5 mm with hyaline margins between teeth; awns uncinate, 0.2–0.5 mm. |
Flowers | included or only slightly exserted; perianth bicolored with floral tube greenish white and tepals white, cylindric, 2.5–3 mm, sparsely pubescent; tepals connate 2/3 their length, dimorphic, linear-oblong, those of outer whorl spreading, 1.5 times longer than those of inner whorl, rounded, entire or emarginate to slightly 2-lobed apically, those of inner whorl erect, acute, entire to erose, slightly fimbriate or 2-lobed apically; stamens 3, included; filaments distinct, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous; anthers white, ovate, 0.3–0.4 mm. |
exserted; perianth yellow or sometimes white, cylindric, (1.7–)2–3 mm, pubescent; tepals connate ca. 2/3 their length, essentially monomorphic, narrowly oblong to narrowly obovate, occasionally with outer lobes slightly broader and longer than inner ones, entire apically; stamens 9, exserted; filaments connate basally into 0.2–1 mm tube, (0.3–)0.5–2.5 mm, pilose-ciliate; anthers cream to pale yellow, oblong, (0.2–)0.5–0.7 mm. |
Achenes | brown, globose-lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
brown, lenticular, 1.5–2.5 mm. |
2n | = 42. |
= (38), 40, (42, 44, 46). |
Chorizanthe clevelandii |
Chorizanthe procumbens |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Sep. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland and chaparral communities, pine-oak woodlands | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, coastal grassland, coastal sage, chaparral, and desert scrub communities |
Elevation | 400-2000 m (1300-6600 ft) | (0-)10-1300 m ((0-)0-4300 ft) |
Distribution |
CA
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CA; Mexico (Baja California)
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Discussion | Chorizanthe clevelandii is locally infrequent to common in scattered locations in the Coast Ranges from Mendocino and Lake counties south to Santa Barbara County, and across the Transverse and Tehachapi ranges of Ventura and Kern counties to the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County. It is the most widely distributed of the spineflowers endemic to California. The involucres stick to fur, clothing, and fingers, aiding dispersal of the achenes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Chorizanthe procumbens is a variable complex of widely scattered, locally infrequent to common populations that occur from the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino mountains southward through western Riverside and Orange counties to San Diego County. In a strict sense, prostrate plants from San Diego southward belong to C. procumbens (including C. jonesiana) while decumbent plants to the north are C. uncinata (C. procumbens sensu G. J. Goodman 1934), if such a distinction is considered taxonomically useful. Plants with a grayish hue south of our range in Baja California have been described as C. chaetophora. All of our plants have a greenish yellow cast. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 460. | FNA vol. 5, p. 462. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. chaetophora, C. jonesiana, C. procumbens var. albiflora, C. procumbens var. mexicana, C. uncinata | |
Name authority | Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 4: 62. (1884) | Nuttall: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 17. (1848) |
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