Flora of North America species comparison

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Eremogone congesta

Eremogone congesta var. prolifera

ball-head sandwort, capitate sandwort
Photo is of parent taxon

ball-head sandwort
Habit Plants tufted or sometimes matted, green, not glaucous, with woody base.
Stems

± erect, 3–40(–50) cm, glabrous or often stipitate-glandular.

15–25 cm, glabrous to stipitate-glandular.
Leaves

basal leaves persistent or not;

cauline leaves in 3–5 pairs, similar, but reduced distally;

basal blades erect-ascending to arcuate-spreading, subulate or needlelike to filiform, (0.8–)2–11(–14) cm × 0.4–2 mm, flexuous or rigid, herbaceous to ± fleshy, apex obtuse to sharply acute or spinose, glabrous, sometimes glaucous.

basal blades mostly erect, filiform, (2–)3–8 cm × 0.3–0.7 mm, herbaceous.
Inflorescences

3–50+-flowered, congested and capitate or sometimes open, umbellate cymes.

subcapitate, subcongested to proliferating cymes;

bracts scattered within inflorescence.
Pedicels

0.1–7(–15) mm or ± absent, usually glabrous, rarely stipitate-glandular.

1–6(–15) mm, glabrous or sometimes stipitate-glandular.
Flowers

sepals 1–3-veined, sometimes obscurely so, ovate to lanceolate, 3–6.5 mm, not expanding in fruit, margins narrow, apex obtuse or acute to acuminate, rarely spinose, glabrous (or glandular in var. prolifera);

petals white, oblong, 5–8(–10) mm, 1.5–2 times as long as sepals, apex entire to slightly emarginate;

nectaries as lateral and abaxial mound with crescent-shaped groove at base of filaments opposite sepals, 0.3 × 0.15–0.2 mm.

Capsules

3.5–6 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

reddish brown to black, broadly ellipsoid to ovoid, 1.4–3 mm, tuberculate;

tubercles low, rounded, often elongate.

Sepals

weakly to conspicuously 1–3-veined, (4.5–)5–6 mm, apex acute to acuminate or spinose, glabrous or glandular.

Eremogone congesta

Eremogone congesta var. prolifera
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Sagebrush plains and slopes
Elevation 500-900 m (1600-3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ID; NV; OR; WA; AB
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 9 (9 in the flora).

Eremogone congesta is highly polymorphic; it has been been divided into 11 varieties (nine recognized here), most of which are distinctive and locally distributed. M. F. Baad (1969) noted two patterns of variation of different origin within E. congesta, but he did not present a revised classification.

While most specimens of the four varieties with dense inflorescences do not exhibit evident pedicels, the occasional plant does bear one or more pedicels to 1–2 mm, sometimes in secondary inflorescences.

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

We consider var. glandulifera to be a glandular extreme of var. prolifera. It is known from a single specimen (Ownbey & Ownbey 2763, NY) collected in Valley County, Idaho, in 1946. While most specimens of var. prolifera are glabrous, the pubescence on the stems and pedicels of a collection from Douglas County, Washington (Hitchcock 17459, WTU) closely approaches that seen on the type of var. glandulifera.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Pedicels usually 0.1-0.2 mm or ± absent; inflorescences dense, tight cymes
→ 2
1. Pedicels 1-6(-15) mm; inflorescences somewhat to markedly open cymes or umbellate cymes
→ 5
2. Basal leaf blades filiform, 3-14 cm
→ 3
2. Basal leaf blades needlelike, 1-3.5 cm
→ 4
3. Inflorescences capitate, rounded cymes; sepal apices obtuse to rounded
var. congesta
3. Inflorescences capitate, pyramidal cymes; sepal apices narrowly acute to acuminate
var. cephaloidea
4. Sepals 5-6.5 mm, apex acute to acuminate; basal leaf blades herbaceous; California, Nevada
var. simulans
4. Sepals 3.5-4 mm, apex obtuse; basal leaf blades ± succulent; California, Oregon
var. crassula
5. Sepal apices obtuse
→ 6
5. Sepal apices acute to acuminate or spinose
→ 7
6. Inflorescences proliferating, ± loose cymes; bracts often not closely enveloping sepals; Alberta, Saskatchewan, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming
var. lithophila
6. Inflorescences umbels, bracts clustered at umbel base; California
var. suffrutescens
7. Basal leaf blades (2-)3-8 cm, filiform; pedicels glabrous or sometimes stipitate-glandular (possible throughout range, true for Nevada populations); Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington
var. prolifera
7. Basal leaf blades 0.5-2.5(-3.5) cm, needlelike or filiform; pedicels glabrous; California, Nevada, Utah
→ 8
8. Inflorescences proliferating, ± loose cymes; sepals 3.5-4.5 mm
var. subcongesta
8. Inflorescences capitate and often rounded, to subcongested, proliferating or open cymes; sepals 4.5-6.5 mm
→ 9
9. Sepals 4.5-5.5 mm, weakly to conspicuously 1-3-veined, apex spinose
var. charlestonensis
9. Sepals usually 5.5-6.5 mm, conspicuously 3-veined, apex acute to acuminate
var. simulans
Source FNA vol. 5, p. 60. FNA vol. 5, p. 62.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Eremogone Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Alsinoideae > Eremogone > Eremogone congesta
Sibling taxa
E. aberrans, E. aculeata, E. capillaris, E. eastwoodiae, E. fendleri, E. ferrisiae, E. franklinii, E. hookeri, E. kingii, E. macradenia, E. pumicola, E. stenomeres, E. ursina
E. congesta var. cephaloidea, E. congesta var. charlestonensis, E. congesta var. congesta, E. congesta var. crassula, E. congesta var. lithophila, E. congesta var. simulans, E. congesta var. subcongesta, E. congesta var. suffrutescens
Subordinate taxa
E. congesta var. cephaloidea, E. congesta var. charlestonensis, E. congesta var. congesta, E. congesta var. crassula, E. congesta var. lithophila, E. congesta var. prolifera, E. congesta var. simulans, E. congesta var. subcongesta, E. congesta var. suffrutescens
Synonyms Arenaria congesta Arenaria congesta var. prolifera, Arenaria congesta var. glandulifera, E. congesta var. glandulifera
Name authority (Nuttall) Ikonnikov: Novosti Syst. Vyssh. Rast. 10: 139. (1973) (Maguire) R. L. Hartman & Rabeler: Sida 21: 239. (2004)
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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