Chorizanthe stellulata |
Chorizanthe xanti |
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starlet spineflower, starlite spineflower |
riverside spineflower, Xantus' spineflower |
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Habit | Plants erect, 0.5–2.5(–3) × 0.5–3 dm, hirsute. | Plants erect to infrequently spreading, (0.3–)0.5–2.5(–3) × 0.5–3(–5) dm, thinly pubescent. | ||||
Leaves | basal; petiole 0.1–0.5 cm; blade narrowly lanceolate to oblanceolate, 0.5–2 × 0.8–2(–2.2) cm, hirsute. |
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 | cymose, dichotomously branched throughout, white to greenish or reddish; bracts usually 2, similar to leaves at proximal nodes only reduced, typically with whorl of 3–5 ca. midstem, short-petiolate, becoming linear and aciculate at distal nodes, acerose, 0.5–2(–3) cm × 10–30(–40) 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 | congested in small bracteated terminal clusters of 2–4 at node of dichotomies, tannish, cylindric, slightly ventricose basally, 3–4 mm, with conspicuous, white, broad, membranous margins typically extending up tooth to awn, finely corrugated, hispid at least along ridges, otherwise sparsely pubescent; teeth spreading, equal, 1–1.5 mm, awns straight, 0.5–1 mm. |
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 cream to creamy white or rose, cylindric, 4–4.5(–5) mm, slightly pubescent abaxially; tepals connate 2/3 their length, monomorphic, obovate, obcordate to 2-lobed apically, sometimes slightly irregular but not distinctly erose; stamens 9, slightly exserted; filaments distinct, 4–5 mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red, oblong, 0.5–0.6 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 | light brown, globose-lenticular, 3.5–4.5 mm. |
brown, lenticular, 4–4.5 mm. |
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2n | = 38, 40, 44. |
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Chorizanthe stellulata |
Chorizanthe xanti |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jul. | |||||
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland and chaparral communities, oak-pine woodlands | |||||
Elevation | 30-900 m (100-3000 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA
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CA
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Discussion | Chorizanthe stellulata can be locally common in the foothills bordering the Central Valley from Shasta County south to Stanislaus County on the western side, and to Tulare County on the eastern side. Post-flowering specimens of starlite spineflower and Douglas’s spineflower are sometimes difficult to distinguish. The margins of the involucre in the former are always white; those of C. douglasii are purple. (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 | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala | Polygonaceae > subfam. Eriogonoideae > Chorizanthe > subg. Amphietes > sect. Ptelosepala | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
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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