Chorizanthe cuspidata |
Chorizanthe sect. Ptelosepala |
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San Francisco spineflower |
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Habit | Plants decumbent to prostrate or ascending, 0.5–2(–2.5) × 0.5–10 dm, villous. | Plants prostrate to spreading or somewhat erect. | ||||
Stems | not disarticulating at each node. |
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Leaves | basal; petiole (0.5–)1–3 cm; blade oblanceolate, (0.5–)1–5 × (0.3–)0.4–0.7(–1) cm, villous. |
blades lanceolate to ovate or spatulate. |
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Inflorescences | rather dense with secondary branches suppressed, greenish to reddish; bracts 2, similar to proximal leaf blades only reduced, short-petiolate, becoming narrowly elliptic to linear-lanceolate and aciculate at distal nodes, acerose, 0.5–5 cm × 2–7 mm, awns 0.5–1.2 mm. |
bracts with or without awns. |
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Involucres | 1, greenish, cylindric, often ventricose basally, 1–3 mm, without scarious margins or if so then white to pink, thin, and restricted to basal portions of teeth, corrugate, villous abaxially; teeth spreading, equal, 0.5–2 mm; awns uncinate or straight with longer ones 2–3 mm and anterior one mostly 2.5–3 mm, these alternating with shorter 1–1.5(–1.7) mm ones. |
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. |
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Flowers | included to slightly exserted; perianth bicolored with floral tube white and tepals white to rose, cylindric, 2–3 mm, pubescent abaxially; tepals connate less than 1/4 their length, monomorphic, oblong, truncate to 3-lobed and distinctly cuspidate apically; stamens 9, slightly exserted; filaments distinct, 2–3 mm, glabrous; anthers cream to rose, narrowly oblong, 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. |
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Achenes | light brown, globose-lenticular, 2–3 mm. |
light brown to dark brown, lenticular or globose-lenticular. |
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Chorizanthe cuspidata |
Chorizanthe sect. Ptelosepala |
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Distribution |
CA
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w United States; nw Mexico |
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 454. | 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. pungens var. cuspidata | C. section Anisogonum, C. section Eriogonellopsis, C. section Herbaceae | ||||
Name authority | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 17: 379. (1882) | Nuttall: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 4: 17. (1848) | ||||
Web links |