Chorizanthe diffusa |
Chorizanthe parryi |
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diffuse spineflower |
Parry's spineflower, San Bernardino spineflower, San Fernando Valley spineflower |
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Habit | Plants spreading, decumbent, prostrate, or rarely slightly erect, 0.3–1(–1.5) × 0.5–2(–10) dm, villous. | Plants prostrate to spreading, 0.2–0.8(–1) × 0.5–4(–6) dm, strigose. | ||||
Leaves | basal; petiole 0.2–1.8(–2) cm; blade oblanceolate, 0.3–2 × 0.1–0.4 cm, villous. |
basal; petiole 0.5–2(–3.5) cm; blade oblanceolate to narrowly oblong, 0.5–2.5(–4) × 0.2–0.6(–1.2) cm, thinly pubescent. |
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Inflorescences | rather dense with secondary branches suppressed, white to greenish; bracts 2, similar to leaf blades at proximal nodes only reduced, short-petiolate, becoming linear and aciculate at distal nodes, acerose, 0.3–2 cm × 1–4 mm, awns absent. |
with involucres in small, open clusters 0.3–1 cm diam., greenish or grayish to reddish; bracts 2, sessile, usually leaflike, oblanceolate to elliptic, 0.5–1.5 cm × 1.5–7 mm, gradually reduced and becoming scalelike at distal nodes, linear, aciculate, acerose, 0.1–0.5 cm × 1–2 mm, awns straight, 0.4–1 mm. |
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Involucres | 1, mostly greenish, cylindric, not ventricose, 2–2.5 mm, with thin to broad and then conspicuous white or pinkish to purple, scarious margins extending nearly full length of awn, not corrugate, villous-hirsute; teeth spreading to divergent, equal, 0.5–1 mm, awns uncinate with longer ones 1–2 mm, anterior one mostly 2 mm, alternating with shorter (0.5–1 mm) ones. |
3–5, greenish or grayish to reddish, urceolate, slightly ventricose basally, 1.5–2 mm, corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, pubescent; teeth widely spreading to divergent or recurved, equal, 0.5–1.5 mm or 1–3 mm; awns uncinate or straight, unequal, alternating 0.5–1.5 mm and 0.2–0.5 mm. |
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Flowers | exserted; perianth bicolored with floral tube lemon-yellow and tepals white, campanulate, 2.5–3 mm, glabrous; tepals connate ca. 1/3 their length, monomorphic, oblong, acute to obtuse and entire apically; stamens 3–9, slightly exserted; filaments distinct, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous; anthers yellow, oval, 0.3–0.4 mm. |
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, slightly dimorphic, those of outer whorl oblong to oblong-ovate, 1.5 times longer than those of inner whorl, rounded, erose or rarely some entire to denticulate apically, those of inner whorl linear-oblanceolate, acute, entire or denticulate apically; stamens 9, included; filaments distinct, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous; anthers white, ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm. |
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Achenes | dark brown, globose-lenticular, 2–2.5 mm. |
brown, globose-lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
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2n | = 38, 40, 42. |
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Chorizanthe diffusa |
Chorizanthe parryi |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | |||||
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, coastal scrub communities, pine-oak woodlands | |||||
Elevation | 30-800 m (100-2600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA
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CA
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Discussion | The involucral margins of Chorizanthe diffusa vary greatly. In some individuals, the white margins are barely visible. Plants with the margins of the involucre are predominantly white have been designated var. nivea. A full gradation between the extremes may be observed in most populations, although in coastal sands var. nivea is often the dominant expression. Diffuse spineflower occurs near the coast and in the Coast Ranges of central California. Chorizanthe diffusa has been shown to inhibit carcinogen-induced preneoplastic lesions in a mouse mammary-organ culture model. This inhibitory activity is known to correlate with cancer chemopreventive effects in full-term models of tumorigenesis (see H. S. Chung et al. 1999). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 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. 452. | FNA vol. 5, p. 461. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | C. andersonii, C. diffusa var. nivea, C. nivea, C. pungens var. diffusa, C. pungens var. nivea | |||||
Name authority | Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 26. (1856) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 12: 271. (1877) | ||||
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