Chorizanthe diffusa
Chorizanthe procumbens
diffuse spineflower
prostrate spineflower
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) cm;
blade oblanceolate, (0.5–)1–3(–4) × 0.1–0.7(–1.2) cm, thinly pubescent.
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 yellow to green or reddish green;
bracts 2, sessile, leaflike and similar to proximal leaf blades only reduced, linear-oblanceolate to elliptic, 0.3–1(–1.5) cm × 1.5–5(–8) mm, rapidly reduced and scalelike at distal nodes, linear, acicular, often acerose, 0.1–0.5 cm × (0.3–)0.5–3 mm, awns straight, 0.2–1 mm.
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.
3–10, rarely more, greenish yellow to reddish green, cylindric or narrowly to broadly campanulate, not ventricose,1.5–3 mm, faintly corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly pubescent with spreading hairs, longest hairs on ribs and at base;
teeth spreading, equal, 1–2.5 mm, or divergent, thickened basally, unequal, 1–2 mm or 2.5–5 mm with hyaline margins between teeth;
awns uncinate, 0.2–0.5 mm.
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.
exserted;
perianth yellow or sometimes white, cylindric, (1.7–)2–3 mm, pubescent;
tepals connate ca. 2/3 their length, essentially monomorphic, narrowly oblong to narrowly obovate, occasionally with outer lobes slightly broader and longer than inner ones, entire apically;
stamens 9, exserted;
filaments connate basally into 0.2–1 mm tube, (0.3–)0.5–2.5 mm, pilose-ciliate;
anthers cream to pale yellow, oblong, (0.2–)0.5–0.7 mm.
dark brown, globose-lenticular, 2–2.5 mm.
brown, lenticular, 1.5–2.5 mm.
= 38, 40, 42.
= (38), 40, (42, 44, 46).
Chorizanthe diffusa
Chorizanthe procumbens
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.)
Chorizanthe procumbens is a variable complex of widely scattered, locally infrequent to common populations that occur from the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino mountains southward through western Riverside and Orange counties to San Diego County. In a strict sense, prostrate plants from San Diego southward belong to C. procumbens (including C. jonesiana) while decumbent plants to the north are C. uncinata (C. procumbens sensu G. J. Goodman 1934), if such a distinction is considered taxonomically useful. Plants with a grayish hue south of our range in Baja California have been described as C. chaetophora. All of our plants have a greenish yellow cast.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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