Diaperia prolifera
Diaperia
big-head rabbit-tobacco, bighead pygmycudweed
dwarf cudweed, rabbit-tobacco
mostly 2–10;
branches proximal and distal (distal opposite or, sometimes, appearing alternate when unequal), rarely none.
1, erect, or 2–10, ascending to ± prostrate.
largest 7–15 × 2–4 mm;
capitular leaves subtending glomerules, also visible between and surpassing heads.
basal and cauline; alternate;
blades oblanceolate to obovate.
inconspicuous.
broadly or narrowly conic, 0.4–0.6 mm or ± 0.9–1.1 mm, heights 0.5–0.7 or 2–2.4 times diams.
pulvinate to conic (heights 0.2–2.4 times diams.), glabrous.
13–35+.
0.
(2–)4–6, ± equal (similar to paleae).
in strictly dichasiform or pseudo-polytomous arrays (sometimes appearing monochasiiform), cylindric to ± ellipsoid, 3.5–4.5 mm, heights 2–3 times diams.
borne singly or in glomerules of 2–40+ in ± dichasiform, pseudo-polytomous, spiciform, or racemiform arrays.
± angular, obcompressed, mostly 0.9–1.2 mm.
light to dark brown, monomorphic: terete to obcompressed, ± obovoid, ± straight, not gibbous, faces glabrous, minutely papillate, dull or ± shiny;
corolla scars apical;
pappi 0.
paleae imbricate, longest 2.5–4 mm.
paleae readily falling (all or inner together, ± coherent distally by tangled indument) or outermost sometimes persistent, erect to ascending;
bodies with 5+ nerves (nerves ± parallel, obscure), oblanceolate to oblong, flat to concave most of lengths (not enclosing florets);
wings 0.
paleae ± 3, apices erect to somewhat spreading, ± plane.
or bisexual paleae readily falling (coherent with pistillate), (1–)3–5, erect to apically somewhat spreading or incurved (scarcely enlarged) in fruit, slightly surpassing pistillate paleae;
bodies ± spatulate (apices entire, sometimes involute and ± gibbous).
staminate florets 2–4;
ovaries partly developed, 0.4–0.6 mm;
corollas hidden in heads, actinomorphic, 1.4–2 mm, glabrous, lobes equal.
staminate or bisexual florets 2–5;
corolla lobes mostly 4, equal or unequal.
= 7.
Diaperia prolifera
Diaperia
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Intermediates between the two varieties of Diaperia prolifera occur where their ranges meet in central Texas and central Oklahoma. The strictly dichasiform or pseudo-polytomous branching pattern of D. prolifera is distinctive and diagnostic within the genus. Specimens of D. prolifera from introductions around a wool mill in South Carolina (G. L. Nesom 2004c, as Evax prolifera) are as yet undetermined to variety and are not included in the distributions below.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 3 (3 in the flora).
See discussion of Filagininae following the tribal description (p. 385).
Diaperia occurs in open, moist or dry habitats of humid to semiarid, temperate to subtropical climates. Though apparently not aggressively invasive in their native range, the species are competitive in disturbed habitats (vacant lots, fallow fields, lawns, cemeteries, and roadsides). Diaperia verna var. verna, in particular, is widely regarded as a weed; the species are potentially invasive outside the flora.
Diaperia appears to be monophyletic, with ancestors near Evax sect. Filaginoides Smoljaninova of the Mediterranean basin and central Asia (particularly E. eriosphaera Boissier & Heldreich; J. D. Morefield 1992). It is separated from Evax by stems well-developed, leafy, usually branched, paleae falling together (coherent distally by tangled indument), and staminate paleae somewhat enlarged, apices obtuse, ± herbaceous, uniformly hairy (Morefield 2004). Species of Diaperia are sharply distinct by size, shape, and arrangement of branches, glomerules, heads, and capitular leaves.
Diaperia candida is aberrant by its inner florets bisexual, bisexual paleae distally gibbous, and reported chromosome complement of 2n = 14 (D. J. Keil and D. J. Pinkava 1976). These traits might eventually justify resurrection of the monotypic Calymmandra Torrey & A. Gray, after further study and confirmation of the chromosome number. While 2n = 14 is common elsewhere in Gnaphalieae, all other 25 counted species of Filagininae have 2n = 28 (species of Evax, Filago, Logfia, Micropus, Psilocarphus, and Stylocline) or 2n = 26 (Diaperia and Evax). The implication that D. candida retains an ancestral diploid condition has no phylogenetic support (J. D. Morefield 1992).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Plants grayish to greenish, loosely lanuginose; heads 4–40+ in largest glomerules; receptacle heights mostly 0.5–0.7 times diams.; capitular leaves usually ± spreading, scarcely involucral, not or scarcely carinate, pliant to somewhat rigid; distal branches mostly spreading to ascending; longest pistillate paleae 3.3–4 mm | var. prolifera |
1. Plants silvery white, tightly sericeous; heads borne singly, or 2–3 in largest glomerules; receptacle heights mostly 2–2.4 times diams.; capitular leaves erect, involucral, proximally carinate, becoming indurate; distal branches strictly ascending to erect; longest pistillate paleae 2.5–3.2 mm | var. barnebyi |
1. Heads in racemiform or spiciform arrays, 1.5–2 mm; branches proximal or none; longest pistillate paleae 0.9–1.3 mm; bisexual florets 3–5 (corollas 0.5–0.9 mm, protruding from heads); functionally staminate florets usually 0 | D. candida |
1. Heads in ± dichasiform or pseudo-polytomous arrays, 2–4.5 mm; branches proximal and distal, rarely none; longest pistillate paleae 1.9–4 mm; bisexual florets 0; functionally staminate florets 2–5 (corollas 1.4–2.5 mm, hidden in heads) | → 2 |
2. Heads in subdichasiform arrays, ± campanulate to spheric, 2–3.3 mm, heights ± equal to diams.; capitular leaves ± hidden between and surpassed by heads; pistillate paleae scarcely imbricate; cypselae mostly 0.7–0.9 mm | D. verna |
2. Heads in strictly dichasiform or pseudo-polytomous arrays (sometimes appearing monochasiform), ellipsoid to ± cylindric, 3.5–4.5 mm, heights 2–3 times diams.; capitular leaves visible between and surpassing heads; pistillate paleae imbricate; cypselae mostly 0.9–1.2 mm | D. prolifera |
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