Corispermum welshii
Corispermum nitidum
Welsh's bugseed
shiny bugseed, slender bugseed
blades linear-lanceolate or linear, usually plane (or rarely slightly convolute or folded in dried plants), 1–6 × 0.2–0.5 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 (rarely narrowly ovate-lanceolate), 1–3 × 0.3–0.8 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).
usually compact and dense, rarely ± lax, and condensed only at apex, ovoid, oblong-obovate, or oblong-clavate.
lax, usually interrupted from base to apex, rarely slightly condensed (only at apex when immature), narrowly linear or linear.
segment 1.
segments 1–3.
yellowish brown, light brown, or brown, usually with reddish brown spots and whitish warts, strongly to slightly convex abaxially, usually concave adaxially, obovate or orbiculate-obovate, usually broadest slightly beyond middle (occasionally almost near middle), (3.3–)3.7–4.6 × (2.7–)3–3.6 mm, slightly shiny or dull;
wing translucent, thin, (rarely translucent only at margin, thicker), (0.3–)0.4–0.6 mm wide, margins entire or irregularly minutely erose-denticulate, apex rounded, truncate, or indistinctly emarginate.
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.
branched from base or nearly so, 10–35 cm, densely or sparsely covered with dendroid or stellate hairs (rarely with scattered papillae at margins of bracts).
Corispermum welshii
Corispermum nitidum
The names Corispermum hyssopifolium and C. villosum have been misapplied to C. welshii. Judging from its fruit morphology, C. welshii is closely related to C. americanum, especially to var. rydbergii. Forms intermediate between these taxa occasionally occur, especially in Utah. However, C. welshii differs from C. americanum in having shorter and thicker inflorescences and broader leaves and bracts. Forms similar to C. welshii occur also in other southwestern states, particularly in Colorado and western Texas. These plants are in need of additional study.
(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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