Chorizanthe diffusa |
Chorizanthe xanti |
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diffuse spineflower |
riverside spineflower, Xantus' 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 erect to infrequently spreading, (0.3–)0.5–2.5(–3) × 0.5–3(–5) dm, thinly pubescent. | ||||
Leaves | basal; petiole 0.2–1.8(–2) cm; blade oblanceolate, 0.3–2 × 0.1–0.4 cm, villous. |
basal or nearly so; petiole 1–2(–3) cm; blade oblong or oblong-ovate to ovate, 0.3–1(–1.5) × 0.3–0.8(–1) cm, thinly pubescent adaxially, densely tomentose abaxially. |
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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. |
mostly flat-topped and openly branched, usually reddish; bracts persistent, 2, usually leaflike at proximal nodes and similar to proximal leaf blades only more reduced, short-petiolate, oblong-ovate to ovate, 0.3–0.8 cm × 2–6 mm, becoming sessile, reduced and scalelike at distal nodes, linear, acicular, often acerose, 0.1–0.4 cm × 0.5–1 mm, awns straight, 0.5–1 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. |
in open clusters with 1 at node of dichotomies, reddish, cylindric, not ventricose, 3–4.5 mm, not corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly to densely pubescent; teeth spreading, unequal, 0.7–1.5 mm, 3 longer ones more erect than 3 shorter and less-prominent ones; awns uncinate, 0.5–1 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. |
long-exserted; perianth rose to red, infrequently with white lobes, cylindric, 4.5–6 mm, pubescent; tepals connate ca. 2/3 their length, monomorphic to slightly dimorphic, narrowly oblanceolate, rounded apically, those of outer whorl occasionally slightly broader and longer than those of inner whorl; stamens 9, mostly included; filaments distinct, 4–6 mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red, oblong, 0.5–0.6 mm. |
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Achenes | dark brown, globose-lenticular, 2–2.5 mm. |
brown, lenticular, 4–4.5 mm. |
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2n | = 38, 40, 42. |
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Chorizanthe diffusa |
Chorizanthe xanti |
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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. 463. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
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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: 272. (1877) | ||||
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