Douglasia laevigata
Douglasia nivalis
cliff dwarf-primrose, smooth douglasia
snow douglasia, snow dwarf-primrose
prostrate, loosely covered with marcescent, gray to light brown leaves (becoming remote in age).
prostrate to ascending, loosely covered with marcescent, gray to light brown leaves (becoming remote in age).
spreading, thin;
blade oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate to spatulate, 5–20 × 2–6 mm, margins entire or slightly toothed, sometimes ciliolate, hairs simple, apex obtuse to slightly acute, surfaces glabrous.
spreading, slightly reflexed in age, thin;
blade linear to oblanceolate, 5–2 × 1.5–4 mm, margins entire or distinctly toothed, apex obtuse, surfaces densely hairy, hairs minute, branched and stellate.
2–7 mm, elongating little in fruit, minutely hairy, hairs stellate and branched.
10–70 mm, elongating little in fruit, densely stellate-pubescent.
2–10-flowered, bracteate;
bracts 3–8, lanceolate to ovate, 3–8 × 1–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, hairs minute, branched.
2–8-flowered, bracteate;
bracts 4–10, lanceolate to ovate, 3–8 × 2–3 mm, stellate-pubescent.
2–15 mm.
present, 1–10(–20) mm.
calyx 6–7 × 3–4 mm, stellate-pubescent;
corolla rose-pink, violet in age, limb 8–15 mm diam., lobes 3–4 × 2–3 mm, margins entire or erose.
calyx 4–7 × 3–5 mm, stellate-pubescent to glabrate;
corolla rose-pink, limb 8–12 mm diam., lobes 3–5 × 1–2 mm, margins erose or entire.
Douglasia laevigata
Douglasia nivalis
Although the first collection of Douglasia laevigata was from the “Mountains near Mt. Hood,” the original description of the species was based on plants collected in the Columbia River gorge, which thus represent the nomenclaturally typical variety (L. Constance 1938), even though that entity constitutes an ecological variant with almost glabrous leaves and loose umbels known only from the gorge. The widespread form, var. ciliolata, has more compact umbels and larger, more toothed, conspicuously ciliolate leaves. Because intermediate forms occur commonly, and even the type specimen of D. laevigata has cilia, the infraspecific taxa are not recognized here.
A population of Douglasia laevigata from Cone Peak in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon has been reported as heterostylous due to the occurrence of a protruding “pin type” stigma from the corolla throat; this represents only a local stigmatic anomaly functioning as minor spatial separation of anthers and stigma in early anthesis rather than true heterostyly as seen in Primula. No stigmatic or pollen dimorphisms occur in these plants and no parallel “thrum type” flowers are known.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Previous treatments of Douglasia nivalis have recognized two varieties that differ in the degree of dentation on leaf margins. The most common is var. nivalis, with almost entire leaf blade margins, found in the Wenatchee Mountains and north to Chelan and Douglas counties. Variety dentata has more distinctly toothed leaves and is known only from the Wenatchee Mountains. Because there is a great deal of overlapping variation, particularly in the Wenatchee Mountains, those varieties are not given formal recognition here.
Presence of Douglasia nivalis in Canada is uncertain. The original collection was described by Lindley as collected on the Alberta–British Columbia border near Mount Robson; no other collections of the species from either province are known.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
BC
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
