Corispermum pacificum
Corispermum villosum
common bugseed, Pacific bug-seed
hairy bug-seed
blades narrowly lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, or linear, flat or nearly so, 2–5(–7) × 0.2–0.6 cm.
blades linear-oblanceolate, linear, or rarely narrowly linear (usually rather abruptly narrowed into mucronulate apex), usually plane, (1–)1.5–3.5 × (0.1–)0.2–0.3 cm.
ovate-lanceolate, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, almost ovate, or lanceolate, (1–)1.5–2.5 × 0.3–0.7(–0.9) cm.
ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 0.5–1.5(–2.5) × (0.3–)0.5–1 cm.
usually compact, rather dense, or sometimes ± lax, condensed only near apex, ovoid, oblong-ovate, obovate, broadly linear, or occasionally clavate.
rather compact, dense, condensed in distal 1/2, occasionally interrupted in proximal 1/2, usually clavate or clavate-linear (rarely ± ovate).
segment 1, sometimes absent in distal flowers.
segment 1.
usually black (rarely deep olive green, especially when immature), sharply contrasting with greenish semitransparent wings, without spots and warts, slightly convex abaxially, flat or slightly concave adaxially, orbiculate-obovate to almost orbiculate, broadest near middle (or occasionally slightly beyond), 3–4 × 2.7–3.8 mm, shiny;
wing translucent, thin, (0.2–)0.3–0.6 mm wide, margins slightly undulate or indistinctly erose-denticulate, apex rounded or occasionally indistinctly notched.
yellowish brown, light brown, or dark brown, usually with reddish brown spots and occasionally whitish warts, strongly convex abaxially, plane or slightly convex (occasionally slightly concave) adaxially, elliptic or obovate-elliptic, usually broadest beyond middle, 1.8–3(–3.2) × 1.5–2 mm, dull;
wing absent or to 0.1(–0.15) mm wide, margins entire, apex triangular.
Corispermum pacificum
Corispermum villosum
Of conservation concern.
Corispermum pacificum seems to be closely related to Siberian C. crassifolium Turczaninov and C. maynense Ignatov. The latter species occurs in the northeastern Russian Far East and may be expected to occur in Alaska. Corispermum pacificum differs from C. maynense by its usually more robust habit, and its wing rounded (rarely rounded-truncate or indistinctly emarginate, but not triangular) at apex. From C. crassifolium it may be distinguished by the constant presence of perianth segments, and more flattened black mature fruits. Corispermum pacificum probably also occurs in adjacent regions of British Columbia. Corispermum pacificum is placed in subsect. Crassifolia (S. L. Mosyakin 1997). This subsection seems to be of Siberian origin, with its central species, C. crassifolium, being closest to the hypothetic ancestral taxon. The presence of perianth segments in C. pacificum may be explained by ancient hybridization with representatives of subsect. Pallasiana.
Reproductive isolation between the sympatric species of Corispermum may be achieved by different flowering periods. Occasional hybrids between C. pacificum and C. villosum are similar in their habit to C. pacificum in having usually broad leaves and rather dense inflorescences but they have mostly aborted fruits suggesting that C. pacificum and C. villosum are taxonomically distant species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Corispermum villosum may also occur in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nevada, South Dakota, and Utah. It is probably introduced rather than native in Ontario (where it is found mostly in Thunder Bay district, known for its grain elevators and mills), Quebec, and Wisconsin. Plants from Minnesota and North Dakota are transitional toward C. americanum.
Corispermum villosum is also distinguished by having style bases forming a triangular “beak” distinctly protruding over the edge of the wing/fruit. Some specimens of C. villosum are very similar to the small-fruited and narrow-winged European representatives of C. pallasii. Together with some Eurasian species, C. pallasii, C. americanum, and C. villosum belong to the same group of closely related species, and occasional transitional forms between these taxa are not uncommon in North American material.
The names Corispermum orientale Lamarck and C. hyssopifolium were commonly misapplied to C. villosum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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