Douglasia laevigata
Douglasia ochotensis
cliff dwarf-primrose, smooth douglasia
Alaska dwarf-primrose
prostrate, loosely covered with marcescent, gray to light brown leaves (becoming remote in age).
prostrate, densely covered with marcescent, imbricate, reddish brown leaves proximally and terminal, green leaf rosettes.
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.
prominently recurved, thin;
blade linear to lanceolate, 3–10 × 1–1.5 mm, margins entire, apex obtuse, hairy, hairs simple, surfaces glabrate to hairy, hairs simple.
2–7 mm, elongating little in fruit, minutely hairy, hairs stellate and branched.
5–10 mm, elongating little in fruit, glabrous or minutely glandular and hairy, hairs simple and forked.
2–10-flowered, bracteate;
bracts 3–8, lanceolate to ovate, 3–8 × 1–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, hairs minute, branched.
1-flowered, ebracteate or, sometimes, bracteate;
bract 1, linear-lanceolate, 0.5–1 × 0.5 mm, glabrous.
2–15 mm.
absent.
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 3–7 × 3–5 mm, glabrous;
corolla pink, limb 4–12 mm diam., lobes 1–3 × 1–2 mm, margins entire.
= 38, 40.
Douglasia laevigata
Douglasia ochotensis
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.)
Douglasia ochotensis is the only North American member of the genus to occur also in Asia; its range extends from the Sea of Okhotsk throughout the Bering Strait region, and across the Brooks Range to the Mackenzie River. It varies considerably with respect to flower size and degree of looseness in the growth habit; these characters are strongly affected by exposure, substrate stability, and moisture availability. Douglasia ochotensis can be easily distinguished from all other members of the genus by its prominent, imbricate, recurving, reddish brown, marcescent leaves.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
