Chorizanthe watsonii |
Chorizanthe howellii |
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five-tooth spineflower, Watson's spineflower |
Howell's spineflower, Mendocino spineflower |
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Habit | Plants spreading to erect, 0.2–1(–1.5) × 0.2–1(–1.5) dm, densely canescent-strigose. | Plants spreading or decumbent to somewhat erect, 0.3–1 × 1–5 dm, villous. |
Leaves | basal or nearly so; petiole (0.5–)1–2.5(–3) cm; blade oblanceolate, (0.3–)0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.2–0.4(–0.5) cm, thinly floccose to sparsely tomentose. |
basal or nearly so; petiole 1–4 cm; blade spatulate to broadly obovate, 1–3 × 0.5–1.5(–1.8) cm, villous. |
Inflorescences | with involucres in small clusters 0.5–1 cm diam., greenish to reddish; bracts 2, with laminar ones oblanceolate, (0.5–)0.8–1.5(–2) cm × (1–)2–4 mm, those at distal nodes becoming sessile, reduced and scalelike, linear-lanceolate, acicular, awns slightly curved, 0.5–1 mm. |
with secondary branches suppressed, greenish to grayish; bracts 2, similar to proximal leaf blades only reduced, short-petiolate, becoming linear and aciculate at distal nodes, acerose, 1–5 cm × 5–15 mm, awns absent. |
Involucres | 1, green, cylindric, 5-ribbed, 3–4.5 mm, finely corrugate, pubescent; teeth 5, erect, unequal, with leaflike, narrowly lanceolate, 2–6 mm anterior tooth, others linear, 1–2 mm; awn uncinate, 0.4–0.8(–1) mm. |
1, greenish to grayish, broadly cylindric, not ventricose, 3–4 mm, with conspicuous, white, scarious margins between teeth and extending up awn, not corrugate, pubescent; teeth spreading, equal, 0.5–1 mm, awns straight with longer ones 1–2 mm and anterior one mostly 2 mm, these alternating with shorter (0.5–1 mm) ones. |
Flowers | 1, included to slightly exserted; perianth yellow, cylindric, 1.5–2.5 mm, thinly pubescent abaxially; tepals connate ca. 2/3 their length, monomorphic, oblong, acute, entire apically, mostly erect; stamens 3 or 9, slightly exserted; filaments distinct, 0.8–1 mm, glabrous; anthers yellow, ovate, 0.2–0.3 mm. |
exserted; perianth bicolored with floral tube white and tepals white to rose, cylindric, (3–)3.5–4.5 mm, pubescent nearly throughout; tepals connate 1/4 their length, dimorphic, oblong, truncate and erose to denticulate apically, those of outer lobes longer and wider than inner ones; stamens 9, included; filaments distinct, 3–4 mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red, oblong, 0.6–0.8 mm. |
Achenes | brown, lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
light brown, globose-lenticular, 3–4.5 mm. |
2n | = (72, 74, 76, 78), 80, (82, 84, 86, 88, 90). |
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Chorizanthe watsonii |
Chorizanthe howellii |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug. | Flowering May–Jul. |
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands | Sandy places in coastal dunes and grassland communities |
Elevation | 300-2400 m (1000-7900 ft) | 0-20 m (0-100 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; OR; UT; WA
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CA |
Discussion | Chorizanthe watsonii is widely distributed in the cold desert of the Great Basin and in the northern part of the warmer Mojave Desert. Plants in the northern part of the range (especially on the Palouse Prairie of south-eastern Washington) usually have three stamens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. Chorizanthe howellii is an octoploid probably derived from an ancient hybrid event involving C. cuspidata var. villosa and perhaps C. valida. It is known only from a dune area north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County, and is federally listed as endangered. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 468. | FNA vol. 5, p. 456. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 199. (1870) | Goodman: Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 21: 44, plate 3, fig. 1. (1934) |
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