Chorizanthe watsonii |
Chorizanthe staticoides |
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five-tooth spineflower, Watson's spineflower |
Turkish rugging |
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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 or ascending, 0.5–6 × 0.5–3(–5) dm, thinly 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. |
essentially basal; petiole 1–3(–4) cm; blade oblong to oblong-ovate, 0.5–3(–8) × 0.3–1(–2.5) cm, thinly pubescent or glabrous adaxially, usually densely tomentose abaxially. |
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. |
mostly flat-topped and open to densely branched, green to gray or reddish; bracts soon deciduous, 2, occasionally leaflike at proximal nodes and similar to proximal leaf blades only short-petiolate, more reduced and usually sessile, obovate, others linear and acicular, often acerose, (0.1–)0.2–0.5(–1) cm × 1–3(–6) mm, awns straight, 0.5–2 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. |
usually congested terminally with 1 at node of dichotomies, reddish to purplish, cylindric, not ventricose, 3–4(–5) mm, often irregularly corrugate, without scarious or membranous margins, thinly pubescent; teeth spreading, unequal, 0.7–1.3(–1.5) mm with longest of 3 longer ones more erect than others, these alternating with 3 shorter and less-prominent ones; awns uncinate, 0.5–1 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. |
mostly included; perianth rose to red, cylindric, 3–4(–5) mm, pubescent; tepals connate 1/2 their length, monomorphic to slightly dimorphic, oblong to obovate, rounded to obtuse or truncate apically, occasionally irregularly denticulate, those of outer whorl usually slightly broader and longer than those of inner whorl; stamens 9, mostly included; filaments distinct, 2.5–4(–4.5) mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red, oblong, 0.5–0.6 mm. |
Achenes | brown, lenticular, 2.5–3 mm. |
brown, lenticular, 3–4 mm. |
2n | = 38, (40, 42). |
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Chorizanthe watsonii |
Chorizanthe staticoides |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Aug. | Flowering Apr–Jul. |
Habitat | Sandy to gravelly flats and slopes, mixed grassland, saltbush and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands | Sandy to gravelly or rocky places, coastal scrub, mixed grassland and chaparral communities, pine-oak woodlands |
Elevation | 300-2400 m (1000-7900 ft) | 300-1700(-1900) m (1000-5600(-6200) 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 staticoides is found in the foothills and mountains of the Coast Ranges from Monterey County southward into San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties. A more insular series of populations occurs on Santa Catalina Island and along the coast and immediately adjacent foothills in Orange and San Diego counties. Turkish rugging is a highly variable taxon. G. J. Goodman (1934) attempted to parse some of the variants but J. L. Reveal and C. B. Hardham (1989b) merged all of his segregates under a single name. Some of the variation is noteworthy. The insular phase, C. discolor (including C. chrysacantha), is a relatively rare expression restricted to the immediate (C. chrysacantha) and near coastal (C. discolor) mesas and bluffs. Such plants tend to have somewhat longer awns than the inland expression (C. staticoides). Also, the C. chrysacantha phase can be extremely depauperate, resulting in a compact mass overhanging the Pacific Ocean (var. compacta). While the extremes can be noted, useful taxonomic distinctions cannot be made because of intergradation in all features. E. W. Voegelin (1938) noted the use of an infusion of this plant to treat pimples. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 468. | FNA vol. 5, p. 462. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | C. chrysacantha, C. chrysacantha var. compacta, C. discolor, C. nudicaulis, C. staticoides var. brevispina, C. staticoides subsp. chrysacantha, C. staticoides var. elata, C. staticoides var. latiloba, C. staticoides var. nudicaulis | |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 8: 199. (1870) | Bentham: Trans. Linn. Soc. London 17: 418. (1836) |
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