Chorizanthe clevelandii |
Chorizanthe sect. Ptelosepala |
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Cleveland's spineflower |
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Habit | Plants spreading to decumbent, 0.2–0.8(–1) × 0.5–5(–7) dm, appressed-pubescent. | Plants prostrate to spreading or somewhat erect. |
Stems | not disarticulating at each node. |
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Leaves | basal; petiole 0.5–2 mm; blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.3–0.6(–0.8) cm, thinly pubescent. |
blades lanceolate to ovate or spatulate. |
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. |
bracts with or without awns. |
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. |
cylindric, campanulate, or urceolate, occasionally ventricose basally, 3-angled, 6-ribbed, 6-toothed, with or without membranous or scarious margins continuous across sinuses; awns unequal, typically with anterior one longest. |
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. |
1; perianth white, yellow, rose, red, maroon, dark purple, or lavender, thinly pubescent; stamens 3–9; filaments adnate at base of floral tube. |
Achenes | brown, globose-lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
light brown to dark brown, lenticular or globose-lenticular. |
2n | = 42. |
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Chorizanthe clevelandii |
Chorizanthe sect. Ptelosepala |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Sep. | |
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland and chaparral communities, pine-oak woodlands | |
Elevation | 400-2000 m (1300-6600 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA
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w United States; nw Mexico |
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.) |
Species 31 (25 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 460. | FNA vol. 5, p. 451. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. section Anisogonum, C. section Eriogonellopsis, C. section Herbaceae | |
Name authority | Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 4: 62. (1884) | Nuttall: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 17. (1848) |
Web links |