Chorizanthe watsonii |
Chorizanthe palmeri |
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five-tooth spineflower, Watson's spineflower |
Palmer's 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 erect to spreading, (0.5–)1–3(–4) × 1–3 dm, appressed-pubescent. |
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; petiole 1–3 cm; blade oblanceolate, 1–3 × 0.4–0.8 cm, thinly pubescent. |
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 involucres in dense clusters 2–4 cm diam., greenish or reddish to purple; bracts 2–3 at proximal node, usually leaflike, often with whorl of sessile bracts about midstem, elliptic, 0.5–1.5 cm × 2–6 mm, becoming gradually lanceolate to elliptic, 0.2–1 cm × 1.5–5 mm, at distal nodes scalelike, linear and aciculate, acerose, awns straight, 1–3 mm. |
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. |
3–10 or more, reddish to purplish, urceolate, slightly ventricose basally, 3.5–4 mm, without scarious or membranous margins, slightly corrugate, thinly pubescent with slender, curly hairs; teeth erect to spreading, unequal, 1–2 mm; awns uncinate, 0.5–1 mm with longer anterior one mostly 1 mm. |
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 to yellow and tepals red, maroon, or dark purple, cylindric, 4–5 mm, glabrous or with few scattered hairs along midrib ca. midlength; tepals erect, connate 1/2 their length, dimorphic, obovate, those of outer whorl slightly longer than inner whorl, entire, rounded apically, those of inner whorl fimbriate and truncate or somewhat 2-lobed; stamens 9, exserted; filaments distinct, 4–5 mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red or maroon, oblong, 0.9–1 mm. |
Achenes | brown, lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
brown, globose-lenticular, 3–3.5 mm. |
2n | = 38, 40, (48). |
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Chorizanthe watsonii |
Chorizanthe palmeri |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug. | Flowering May–Aug. |
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands | Gravelly to rocky serpentine and serpentinized igneous outcrops, mixed grassland communities, pine-oak woodlands |
Elevation | 300-2400 m (1000-7900 ft) | 60-700 m (200-2300 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; ID; NV; OR; UT; WA
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CA
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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.) |
Chorizanthe palmeri is known only from the Santa Lucia Mountains, the San Luis Range, and the Huasna area. Populations differ slightly both morphologically and ecologically, but recognition of variants is not suggested. At full anthesis, the reddish stems, involucres, and tepals, plus the localized concentrations of individuals provide for splashes of purplish red on the otherwise grass-brown slopes. Set against the often blackish green of serpentine barrens, the plants can be spotted even from a high-flying aircraft! This species would make an excellent addition to the garden border. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 468. | FNA vol. 5, p. 457. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 199. (1870) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 12: 271. (1877) |
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