Chorizanthe clevelandii |
Chorizanthe wheeleri |
|
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Cleveland's spineflower |
Santa Barbara spineflower, Wheeler's spineflower |
|
Habit | Plants spreading to decumbent, 0.2–0.8(–1) × 0.5–5(–7) dm, appressed-pubescent. | Plants erect to spreading, 0.5–2(–2.5) × 1–2 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 0.5–3 cm; blade elliptic to oblong, 0.5–2 × 0.2–0.6 cm, thinly pubescent adaxially, tomentose abaxially. |
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. |
mostly flat-topped, openly branched, greenish to reddish; bracts persistent, 2, usually leaflike at proximal nodes and similar to leaf blades, short-petiolate, oblong, 0.5–1.2 cm × 2–4 mm, sessile, reduced and scalelike at distal nodes, linear, acicular, often acerose, 0.1–0.5 cm × 0.5–1 mm, awns straight, 0.5–1 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. |
in dense terminal clusters with 1 at node of dichotomies, reddish, cylindric, not ventricose, 2–2.5 mm, corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly pubescent with stoutish, recurved hairs; teeth spreading, unequal, 0.3–0.8(–1) mm, with 3 longer ones more erect than 3 shorter and less-prominent ones; awns uncinate, 0.3–0.5 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 white or rose or red with white lobes, cylindric, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous except for few scattered hairs ca. midlength along midrib abaxially; tepals connate 1/2 their length, monomorphic to slightly dimorphic, oblong, rounded apically, those of outer whorl usually slightly broader and longer than those of inner whorl; stamens 6, included; filaments distinct, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red, oblong, 0.3–0.4 mm. |
Achenes | brown, globose-lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
brown, lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
2n | = 42. |
|
Chorizanthe clevelandii |
Chorizanthe wheeleri |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Sep. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland and chaparral communities, pine-oak woodlands | Gravelly to rocky slopes, coastal scrub communities |
Elevation | 400-2000 m (1300-6600 ft) | 0-400(-600) m (0-1300(-2000) ft) |
Distribution |
CA
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CA
|
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 wheeleri is a rare insular endemic known only from Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa islands. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 460. | FNA vol. 5, p. 464. |
Parent taxa | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. insularis | |
Name authority | Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 4: 62. (1884) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 12: 272. (1877) |
Web links |