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alaskan bugseed

alaskan bugseed, Okhotia n bugseed, Russian bugseed

Habit Plants branched from the base or nearly so, 5–15(–20) cm, sparsely covered with dendroid or stellate hairs, becoming glabrous.
Leaf

blades linear-oblanceolate (linear-spatulate) or linear, often broadest in distal 1/3, plane, 1–3.5 × 0.1–0.3 cm, abruptly contracted into mucronulate apex.

Bracts

ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate, or linear-lanceolate (proximal bracts usually linear, leaflike, 4–7 times fruit length), (0.5–)1–1.5(–3) × (0.1–)0.2–0.5 cm.

Inflorescences

compact and dense, short-clavate or almost ovoid (if linear, then all bracts leaflike).

Perianth

segment 1.

Fruits

3.2–4 × 2.2–2.7 mm.

reddish brown, dark brown, deep olive green (then often tinged with red), or deep beet red, usually without dark spots or whitish warts, strongly convex abaxially, plane or slightly concave adaxially, obovate-elliptic or almost obovate, usually broadest near middle (rarely slightly beyond middle), (2.5–)2.8–4 × 1.8–2.7 mm;

wing translucent only at margins, thick, (0.1–)0.2–0.3 mm wide, margins entire, apex broadly triangular or almost rounded.

Corispermum ochotense var. alaskanum

Corispermum ochotense

Phenology Flowering summer–early fall.
Habitat Sandy river bars and dunes
Elevation 0-100 m (0-300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; NT; Eurasia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Corispermum ochotense is conspicuous in that it is usually red at maturity. No specimens of Corispermum have been seen from Yukon Territory, but the species might be expected there. One collection of immature plants from northern Saskatchewan (see S. L. Mosyakin 1995) probably also belongs to C. ochotense. Specimens of C. ochotense have been misidentified in North America and northeast Asia as C. hyssopifolium Linnaeus and C. sibiricum Iljin.

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

Key
1. Fruits (2.5-)2.8-3.2 × 1.8-2.2 mm
var. ochotense
1. Fruits 3.2-4 × 2.2-2.7 mm
var. alaskanum
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 319. FNA vol. 4.
Parent taxa Chenopodiaceae > Corispermum > Corispermum ochotense Chenopodiaceae > Corispermum
Sibling taxa
C. ochotense var. ochotense
C. americanum, C. hookeri, C. hyssopifolium, C. navicula, C. nitidum, C. pacificum, C. pallasii, C. pallidum, C. villosum, C. welshii
Subordinate taxa
C. ochotense var. alaskanum, C. ochotense var. ochotense
Name authority Mosyakin: Novon 5: 351. (1995) Ignatov: Byull. Moskovsk. Obshch. Isp. Prir., Otd. Biol. 91(3): 113, fig. 2ß. (1986)
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