Flora of North America species comparison

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Eremogone aculeata

Eremogone fendleri

needle-leaf sandwort, prickly sandwort

Fendler's sandwort
Habit Plants strongly mat-forming, glaucous, often with woody base. Plants ± cespitose, bluish green, not glaucous, with woody base.
Stems

erect, 7–25(–30) cm, densely stipitate-glandular distally.

erect, (2–)10–30(–40) cm, stipitate-glandular.
Leaves

basal leaves persistent;

cauline leaves in 1–3 pairs, abruptly reduced distal to lowest pair;

basal blades ascending or often arcuate-spreading, needlelike, (0.5–)1–2.5(–3.5) cm × 0.5–1.5 mm, rigid, herbaceous, apex spinose, glabrous to puberulent, glaucous.

basal leaves persistent;

cauline leaves in (4–)5+ pairs, reduced or not;

basal blades ascending or recurved, filiform, 1–10(–11) cm × 0.2–0.4 mm, flexuous, herbaceous, apex apiculate to spinose, glabrous to puberulent, not glaucous.
Inflorescences

5–25+-flowered, open cymes.

(1–)3–35-flowered, ± open cymes.
Pedicels

3–25 mm, stipitate-glandular.

3–25 mm, stipitate-glandular.
Flowers

sepals 1–3-veined, lateral veins less developed or all obscure, ovate, 3–4.5 mm, to 6 mm in fruit, margins broad, apex usually obtuse to rounded, abruptly acute, sparsely to densely stipitate-glandular;

petals white, obovate to oblanceolate, 4.5–10 mm, 1.5–3 times as long as sepals, apex rounded;

nectaries as lateral and abaxial rounding, with slight lateral expansion, at base of filaments opposite sepals, 0.3 mm.

sepals weakly to prominently 1–3-veined, linear-lanceolate, 4–7.5 mm, not enlarging in fruit, margins broad, apex acuminate, moderately to densely stipitate-glandular on herbaceous portion;

petals white, oblong-elliptic to spatulate, 4–8 mm, 0.9–1.3 times as long as sepals, apex entire to somewhat erose;

nectaries as lateral and abaxial rounding of base of filaments opposite sepals, 0.2 × 0.4 mm.
Capsules

5–9 mm, glabrous.

5–7 mm, glabrous.
Seeds

yellowish tan to gray, ellipsoid-oblong, 1.8–2.5(–3.2) mm, tuberculate;

tubercles rounded, elongate.

black, ovoid to pyriform with hilar notch, 1.5–1.9 mm, tuberculate;

tubercles rounded, elongate to rounded-conic.
2n

= 22.

= 44.

Eremogone aculeata

Eremogone fendleri
Phenology Flowering summer–early fall. Flowering spring–late summer.
Habitat Rocky slopes, alluvium, volcanic areas Sagebrush plains, pine forests, and mountain slopes to alpine zones
Elevation 1500-3400 m (4900-11200 ft) 1200-4300 m (3900-14100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Some specimens from north-central California and southwestern Oregon have been named Arenaria pumicola var. californica. R. L. Hartman (1993) considered those plants to be robust forms of Eremogone aculeata, not deserving formal recognition. Based on work by M. F. Baad (1969), they warrant further study.

Reports of Eremogone aculeata from Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming are erroneous.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

We agree with M. F. Baad (1969) in not formally recognizing varieties within Eremogone fendleri. B. Maguire (1947, 1951) recognized five varieties, defined chiefly on leaf and sepal characteristics. While some specimens can be “matched” to varieties, many appear intermediate between them, forming a continuum of variation.

B. Maguire (1947) noted that Eremogone fendleri is “probably to be found in the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico”; we have not seen any collections from that area.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 5, p. 59. FNA vol. 5, p. 64.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Eremogone Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Eremogone
Sibling taxa
E. aberrans, E. capillaris, E. congesta, E. eastwoodiae, E. fendleri, E. ferrisiae, E. franklinii, E. hookeri, E. kingii, E. macradenia, E. pumicola, E. stenomeres, E. ursina
E. aberrans, E. aculeata, E. capillaris, E. congesta, E. eastwoodiae, E. ferrisiae, E. franklinii, E. hookeri, E. kingii, E. macradenia, E. pumicola, E. stenomeres, E. ursina
Synonyms Arenaria aculeata, Arenaria fendleri var. aculeata, Arenaria pumicola var. californica Arenaria fendleri, Arenaria fendleri subsp. brevifolia, Arenaria fendleri var. brevifolia, Arenaria fendleri var. diffusa, Arenaria fendleri var. porteri, Arenaria fendleri var. tweedyi, Arenaria tweedyi
Name authority (S. Watson) Ikonnikov: Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 10: 139. (1973) (A. Gray) Ikonnikov: Novosti Syst. Vyssh. Rast. 10: 139. (1973)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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