Corispermum navicula
Corispermum nitidum
boat-shape bugseed, crescent bugseed
shiny bugseed, slender bugseed
blades linear-lanceolate, linear, occasionally narrowly lanceolate, usually plane, (1.5–)2–4 × 0.1–0.5 cm.
blades narrowly linear or filiform (rarely linear), usually convolute or folded (especially in mature and/or dry plants), rarely plane (when young), 2–4(–5) × 0.1–0.2 cm.
ovate or ovate-lanceolate (occasionally proximal ones leaflike, narrowly ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate), 0.5–2 × 0.2–0.6 cm.
narrowly ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, or linear, 0.5–1.5(–2) × 0.1–0.3(–0.4) cm, (most bracts within inflorescence rather uniform, usually narrower than mature fruits).
compact and dense, ovoid, ovate or oblong-obovate.
lax, usually interrupted from base to apex, rarely slightly condensed (only at apex when immature), narrowly linear or linear.
segment 1.
segments 1–3.
brown, dark brown, or deep olive green, usually with numerous reddish brown spots and whitish warts, strongly convex abaxially, usually strongly concave adaxially, elongate-obovate or obovate-elliptic, broadest beyond middle, (4.2–)4.5–5(–5.2) × 2.5–3 mm;
wing not translucent or translucent only at margin, thick, 0.1–0.2(–0.3) mm wide (occasionally nearly absent), margins entire or irregularly erose, usually involute toward adaxial face of fruit, apex rostrate, triangular (wing long-adnate to style bases).
straw colored (yellowish brown), light brown, deep olive green, occasionally tinged with red, without spots and warts, convex abaxially, plane or slightly concave adaxially, obovate or broadly elliptic, often broadest near middle (rarely slightly above), 2.3–3.3(–3.5) × (1.8–)2–2.8 mm, shiny;
wing translucent, thin, usually 0.1–0.3 mm wide, margins entire, apex rounded.
Corispermum navicula
Corispermum nitidum
Corispermum navicula is very similar in its fruit morphology to the Siberian species C. bardunovii M. Popov ex M. Lomonosova (M. N. Lomonosova 1992). Probably, the two taxa represent results of parallel evolution (or parallel variability?) within North American and Asian representatives of the same species aggregate. The most distinctive character of both C. navicula and C. bardunovii, an elongated fruit body with almost parallel margins in the middle portion and distinctly triangular apex, shows a transition toward representatives of Corispermum sect. Declinata Mosyakin. Additional study of C. navicula would help clarify its relationships with other species. Some specimens from Oklahoma may also belong to C. navicula.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Specimens of Corispermum nitidum superficially similar to, or almost indistinguishable from, European C. nitidum in their habit (especially when immature) are fairly common in North American collections. Judging from their fruit morphology, they mostly belong to C. americanum (or probably to introgressive hybrids between the introduced C. nitidum and native C. americanum). I have not seen any unquestionably reliable specimens of C. nitidum sensu stricto from North America. More detailed comparative experimental and field studies are needed in order to clarify the complicated taxonomy of the group in North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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