Flora of North America species comparison

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Comandra umbellata

Comandra umbellata subsp. californica

bastard toad-flax (var. umbellata), bastard-toadflax, California comandra (var. Californica), pale comandra (var. pallida)
Photo is of parent taxon

bastard toad flax, California comandra
Habit Subshrubs, 15–40 cm.
Rhizomes

cortex blue, drying blackish.
Aerial stems

often much branched;

proximal portions overwintering.
Leaves

blades light green to grayish or bluish green, lanceolate, elliptic, or ovate, 0.7–5.3 cm, apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate.

blade light green to bluish or grayish green, slightly paler abaxially, glaucous, broadly elliptic, ovate, lanceolate, or linear, 1.7–5.3 cm, thin, becoming ± succulent, base acute to attenuate, margins rarely revolute, apex acute, often apiculate;

midrib and lateral veins apparent and somewhat protruding on abaxial surface.
Pedicels

0–2.5 mm.
Flowers

hypanthium base not dilated.

funnel-shaped to rotate;

petals lanceolate, lanceolate-oblong, or ovate, 2–3.5 mm;

anthers 0.6 mm.
Pseudodrupes

brown, not glaucous, subglobose, 5–7.5 mm, smooth.

Comandra umbellata

Comandra umbellata subsp. californica
Phenology Flowering Mar–Jul.
Habitat Dry places, mountains, foothills, open conifer forests, oak woodlands, chaparral margins.
Elevation 300–3000 m. (1000–9800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; n Mexico; s Europe (Balkan peninsula)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NM; NV; OR; WA; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 4 (3 in the flora).

Comandra umbellata is likely the most widespread Santalales species, occurring throughout the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico as well as in the Balkan peninsula, where subsp. elegans (Rochel ex Reichenbach) Piehl occurs. Comandra umbellata is the alternate host for comandra blister rust (Cronartium comandrae), which damages pines in North America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Subspecies californica is frequent in the Sierra Nevada of California and east of the Cascade range in Oregon and Washington; it is found also on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. In Arizona, this subspecies is restricted to high elevations such as the Santa Catalina Mountains. Intergradation with subsp. pallida occurs over wide areas of Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades thin, green, not glaucous; pseudodrupes 4–6 mm; rhizome cortex white to beige; Canada, c, e United States.
subsp. umbellata
1. Leaves thin or thick, becoming ± succulent, green to grayish or bluish green, glaucous; pseudodrupes 5–9 mm; rhizome cortex blue, drying blackish; w North America.
→ 2
2. Leaf blade lateral veins obscure on abaxial surface; proximal part of aerial stems not overwintering; herbs 5–33 cm.
subsp. pallida
2. Leaf blade lateral veins apparent on abaxial surface; proximal part of aerial stems overwintering; subshrubs 15–40 cm.
subsp. californica
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 409. FNA vol. 12, p. 411.
Parent taxa Comandraceae > Comandra Comandraceae > Comandra > Comandra umbellata
Sibling taxa
C. umbellata subsp. pallida, C. umbellata subsp. umbellata
Subordinate taxa
C. umbellata subsp. californica, C. umbellata subsp. pallida, C. umbellata subsp. umbellata
Synonyms Thesium umbellatum C. californica, C. umbellata var. californica
Name authority (Linnaeus) Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 157. (1818) (Eastwood ex Rydberg) Piehl: Mem. Torrey Bot. Club 22(1): 65. (1965)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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