Chorizanthe clevelandii
Chorizanthe staticoides
Cleveland's spineflower
Turkish rugging
basal;
petiole 0.5–2 mm;
blade oblanceolate, 0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.3–0.6(–0.8) cm, thinly pubescent.
essentially basal;
petiole 1–3(–4) cm;
blade oblong to oblong-ovate, 0.5–3(–8) × 0.3–1(–2.5) cm, thinly pubescent or glabrous adaxially, usually densely tomentose abaxially.
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.
mostly flat-topped and open to densely branched, green to gray or reddish;
bracts soon deciduous, 2, occasionally leaflike at proximal nodes and similar to proximal leaf blades only short-petiolate, more reduced and usually sessile, obovate, others linear and acicular, often acerose, (0.1–)0.2–0.5(–1) cm × 1–3(–6) mm, awns straight, 0.5–2 mm.
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.
usually congested terminally with 1 at node of dichotomies, reddish to purplish, cylindric, not ventricose, 3–4(–5) mm, often irregularly corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly pubescent;
teeth spreading, unequal, 0.7–1.3(–1.5) mm with longest of 3 longer ones more erect than others, these alternating with 3 shorter and less-prominent ones;
awns uncinate, 0.5–1 mm.
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.
mostly included;
perianth rose to red, cylindric, 3–4(–5) mm, pubescent;
tepals connate 1/2 their length, monomorphic to slightly dimorphic, oblong to obovate, rounded to obtuse or truncate apically, occasionally irregularly denticulate, those of outer whorl usually slightly broader and longer than those of inner whorl;
stamens 9, mostly included;
filaments distinct, 2.5–4(–4.5) mm, glabrous;
anthers pink to red, oblong, 0.5–0.6 mm.
brown, globose-lenticular, 2.5–3 mm.
brown, lenticular, 3–4 mm.
= 42.
= 38, (40, 42).
Chorizanthe clevelandii
Chorizanthe staticoides
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 staticoides is found in the foothills and mountains of the Coast Ranges from Monterey County southward into San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties. A more insular series of populations occurs on Santa Catalina Island and along the coast and immediately adjacent foothills in Orange and San Diego counties.
Turkish rugging is a highly variable taxon. G. J. Goodman (1934) attempted to parse some of the variants but J. L. Reveal and C. B. Hardham (1989b) merged all of his segregates under a single name. Some of the variation is noteworthy. The insular phase, C. discolor (including C. chrysacantha), is a relatively rare expression restricted to the immediate (C. chrysacantha) and near coastal (C. discolor) mesas and bluffs. Such plants tend to have somewhat longer awns than the inland expression (C. staticoides). Also, the C. chrysacantha phase can be extremely depauperate, resulting in a compact mass overhanging the Pacific Ocean (var. compacta). While the extremes can be noted, useful taxonomic distinctions cannot be made because of intergradation in all features.
E. W. Voegelin (1938) noted the use of an infusion of this plant to treat pimples.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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