Chylismia confertiflora
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
well branched, 15–50 cm.
in well-developed basal rosette and also cauline, 7–20 × 1.5–2.5 cm;
petiole 1–4(–8) cm;
blade pinnately lobed, terminal lobe oblanceolate to narrowly ovate, 2.5–5 × 1–2.5 cm, margins irregularly dentate, oil cells on abaxial surface inconspicuous.
stipules present or absent.
nodding, dense, mostly elongating after flowers open.
opening at sunrise;
buds with conspicuous, subapical free tips 1–2 mm;
floral tube 3–5 mm, short-villous inside proximally;
sepals 9–12 mm;
petals bright yellow, with red dots at base, fading lavender, 12–18 mm;
stamens unequal, filaments of antisepalous stamens 6–8 mm, those of antipetalous ones 4–5 mm, anthers 4–6 mm, ciliate;
style 11–18 mm, stigma exserted beyond anthers at anthesis.
floral tube present or, rarely, absent;
sepals 2 or 4 (very rarely 3), deciduous with floral tube, petals, and stamens;
petals yellow, white, pink, red, rarely in combination.
ascending or spreading, oblong-cylindrical, immature capsule to 35 mm;
pedicel 5–15 mm.
not known.
Chylismia confertiflora
Onagraceae subfam. onagroideae
Chylismia confertiflora is known only from the type locality on the east side and base of Vulcan’s Throne, Toroweap Valley, Grand Canyon National Monument in Mohave County. P. H. Raven (1962, 1969) assumed this species to be self-incompatible, based on the large flowers with the stigma elevated above the anthers.
A. Cronquist et al. (1997c) treated Chylismia confertiflora as part of C. brevipes, with a comment about the capsule dimensions, and indicated they consider the differences to be one end of the spectrum of a variation within C. brevipes. Although known from very few collections and sparse field data, P. H. Raven (1962, 1969) considered it to be distinct and to be most closely related to C. brevipes and to C. multijuga. He distinguished it from the latter by its larger flowers, nodding inflorescences, and large buds; and from the former by its glandular puberulent sepals, unequal stamens, and uniformly branched habit. In addition, the very restricted range of C. confertiflora is outside (to the east) of the range of C. brevipes. Chylismia multijuga grows within a few miles of the only know locality, but in this area C. confertiflora is very distinct from that species. Further collections and more detailed study of the overall morphological patterns as well as, perhaps, molecular data may clarify whether this is best considered to be an extremely restricted distinct species or a somewhat distinct outlier of the variable C. brevipes.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Genera 21, species 582 (16 genera, 246 species in the flora).
Onagroideae encompass the main lineage of the family, after the early branching of Ludwigia (R. A. Levin et al. 2003, 2004). This large and diverse lineage is distinguished by the presence of a floral tube beyond the apex of the ovary; sepals deciduous with the floral tube, petals, and stamens; pollen shed in monads (or tetrads in Chylismia sect. Lignothera and all but one species of Epilobium); ovular vascular system exclusively transseptal (R. H. Eyde 1981); ovule archesporium multicellular (H. Tobe and P. H. Raven 1996); and change in base chromosome number from x = 8 in Ludwigia to x = 10 or x = 11 at the base of Onagroideae (Raven 1979; Levin et al. 2003). Molecular work (Levin et al. 2003, 2004) substantially supports the traditional tribal classification (P. A. Munz 1965; Raven 1979, 1988); tribes are recognized to delimit major branches within the phylogeny of Onagroideae, where the branches comprise strongly supported monophyletic groups of one or more genera.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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