Douglasia laevigata |
Primulaceae |
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cliff dwarf-primrose, smooth douglasia |
primrose family |
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Habit | Plants loosely cespitose mats with branched caudex. | |||||||||||||||||
Stems | prostrate, loosely covered with marcescent, gray to light brown leaves (becoming remote in age). |
sometimes inflated (Hottonia). |
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Leaves | 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. |
in basal rosettes (cauline and alternate, opposite, or whorled in Hottonia), simple (pinnately compound in Hottonia); stipules absent; petiole present or absent; blade margins entire, denticulate, ciliolate, or crenulate. |
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Scapes | 2–7 mm, elongating little in fruit, minutely hairy, hairs stellate and branched. |
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Inflorescences | 2–10-flowered, bracteate; bracts 3–8, lanceolate to ovate, 3–8 × 1–3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, hairs minute, branched. |
terminal, scapose or sessile umbels or solitary flowers; bracts usually present. |
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Pedicels | 2–15 mm. |
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Flowers | 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. |
bisexual, homostylous or heterostylous (Hottonia, Primula); perianth and androecium hypogynous; sepals 4–5, connate proximally into tube; petals 4–5, connate proximally, corolla campanulate to salverform or tubular with long or short tube; nectaries absent or sometimes nectariferous hairs present; stamens 5, antipetalous, epipetalous, distinct or connate proximally; anthers opening by longitudinal slits; staminodes absent; pistils 1, 5-carpellate; ovary superior, 1-locular; placentation free-central with ± globose central axis; ovules anatropous, bitegmic, not embedded in placentae, tenuinucellate; styles 1, terminal; stigmas 1, usually capitate (rarely truncate). |
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Fruits | capsular, dehiscence valvate or operculate. |
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Seeds | 1–200+, brown or black, angular or rounded, (rarely with eliasomes in some Primula); embryo straight; endosperm copious, starchless. |
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Annual | or perennial (rarely biennial) herbs (suffrutescent in some Primula), sometimes somewhat succulent (Androsace), sometimes rhizomatous (Primula), sometimes stoloniferous (Primula), sometimes with glandular hairs producing crystalline substance that forms farinose coating (Primula); resin canals sometimes present (Hottonia). |
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Douglasia laevigata |
Primulaceae |
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Phenology | Flowering early summer. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Rocky areas | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 30-2000 m (100-6600 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
OR; WA; BC
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North America; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies; Eurasia; mainly n temperate to arctic |
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Discussion | 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.) |
Genera 20, species ca. 600 (5 genera, 52 species in the flora). The largest genera in Primulaceae are Primula (ca. 500 species) and Androsace (ca. 100 species). No genera are endemic to the flora area; Dodecatheon and Douglasia have relatively few representatives elsewhere (northeastern Asia). The family contains ornamental taxa, especially in Dodecatheon and Primula. Primula can cause dermatitis. Some taxa are pollinated by insects; selfing also occurs. Seeds are dispersed by gravity, water, wind, or ants (Primula; B. Ståhl and A. A. Anderberg 2004). As typically described (e.g., A. Cronquist 1981; V. H. Heywood 1978), Primulaceae were clearly polyphyletic, closely related to Myrsinaceae and Theophrastaceae. M. Källersjö et al. (2000) and B. Ståhl and A. A. Anderberg (2004) removed the nonrosette terrestrial members from Primulaceae in the broad sense and placed them in the Myrsinaceae, which are further distinguished by leaves and calyx often dotted with yellow or dark streaks, flowers with relatively shorter corolla tubes, seeds immersed in placentae, and wood devoid of rays or with multiseriate rays only. Maesa, consisting entirely of trees found in the Eastern Hemisphere tropics, also has semi-inferior ovaries, pedicels with two bracts, and wood with both uniseriate and multiseriate rays; it, too, was removed from Primulaceae/Myrsinaceae and placed in its own family (Källersjö et al.). The families Primulaceae in the narrow sense, Myrsinaceae, Theophrastaceae (including Samolaceae), and Maesaceae then form a monophyletic clade within Ericales (P. F. Stevens, http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/), sharing some features, most notably flowers with sympetalous corollas, stamens in a single series and opposite the petals, free-central placentation, bitegmic, tenuinucellate ovules, and plants generally with tannins and saponins. Additional evidence (L. Martins et al. 2003) indicates that Androsace and Primula may not be monophyletic; more work is needed to resolve these issues. The work of M. Källersjö et al. (2000) showed that Douglasia should remain separate from Androsace, and Dodecatheon should remain separate from Primula, although Dodecatheon clearly is derived from Primula subg. Auriculastrum. Alternative views suggesting more inclusive concepts of Primula and Androsace have been offered by I. Trift et al. (2002), A. R. Mast et al. (2004), and G. M. Schneeweiss et al. (2004). The phylogenetic position of Cyclamen, a scapose taxon currently included in Myrsinaceae, has not been resolved. Our understanding of Primulaceae is still in flux, and future taxonomic realignments at the familial and generic levels are to be expected. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 266. | FNA vol. 8, p. 257. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Primulaceae > Douglasia | |||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | D. laevigata subsp. ciliolata, D. laevigata var. ciliolata | |||||||||||||||||
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 16: 105. 1880 , | Batsch ex Borkhausen | ||||||||||||||||
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