Eremogone kingii
Eremogone hookeri
King's sandwort
Hooker's sandwort
erect, (1–)3–20(–25) cm, stipitate-glandular or glabrous proximally.
erect, 1–15(–20) cm, scabrid-puberulent.
basal leaves abundant, persistent;
cauline leaves in (1–)4+ pairs, reduced distally or not;
basal blades erect or closely ascending to somewhat spreading, green to gray-green, filiform to needlelike or narrowly subulate, 0.3–3(–4) cm × 0.3–1.2 mm, flexuous or rigid, herbaceous, apex apiculate or stiff and spinose, glabrous to stipitate-glandular, not glaucous.
basal leaves persistent;
cauline leaves in 1–4 pairs, usually little overlapping, often larger than basal leaves;
basal blades straight to arcuate-spreading, subulate to needlelike, 0.3–4 cm × 0.5–1.5 mm, flexible or rigid, herbaceous, apex spinose, glabrous, often glaucous.
(1–)3–13-flowered, ± open cymes.
3–30+-flowered, congested, capitate or subcapitate cymes.
2–15 mm, glabrous to densely stipitate-glandular.
0.2–2 mm, scabrid-puberulent.
sepals 1–3-veined, lateral veins less developed, ovate or lanceolate, (2.5–)2.8–5(–6) mm, not expanding in fruit, margins broad, apex obtuse to broadly acute or acuminate, glabrous or stipitate-glandular on herbaceous portion;
petals white or rarely pink, oblong to spatulate, (3–)4–7 mm, ca. 1.2–1.3 times as long as sepals, apex entire, erose, or 2-fid almost to base;
nectaries as abaxial, rounded lobe with transverse groove or elongate cup at base of filaments opposite sepals, 0.6 × 0.3 mm.
sepals 1–3-veined, often obscurely so, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, (5–)6–10 mm, not enlarging in fruit, margins narrow, apex narrowly acute or acuminate, glabrous or pubescent;
petals white, oblanceolate, 4.5–8.5 mm, ± equaling sepals, apex rounded to obtuse;
nectaries as lateral and abaxial mounds with transverse groove at base of filaments opposite sepals, 0.2–0.3 mm.
4.5–7 mm, glabrous.
to 4 mm, glabrous.
black to brown, spheric or oblong to ovoid, 1.2–2.1 mm, low-tuberculate, sometimes papillate on abaxial ridge.
black, ellipsoid-oblong to pyriform with hilar notch, 1.8–2 mm, tuberculate;
tubercles rounded, elongate.
Eremogone kingii
Eremogone hookeri
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
M. F. Baad (1969) considered Eremogone kingii to be monophyletic despite considerable morphological variation; J. C. Hickman (1971) thought otherwise, considering E. kingii to be a “genetic dumping ground for all the closely related taxa,” but did not propose any new taxonomic alignment.
Eremogone kingii is extremely variable throughout its range with six infraspecific taxa recognized (under Arenaria kingii) by B. Maguire (1947, 1951). We have been unsuccessful in distinguishing more than two of those taxa. The others intergrade to such an extent that formal recognition is unwarranted. Most distinctive of these here-rejected taxa is var. uintahensis, said to have sepals (4.5–)5–6 mm, versus 3.6–4.5(–5) for the other taxa. Interestingly, the type specimen has sepals mostly 4.5 mm long. In the main portion of the range of var. uintahensis, the sepals are rounded to broadly obtuse, but they may also be acute. Furthermore, the sepals and pedicels are often glabrous, but the correlation of the above-mentioned characters varies over the range.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals white, apex 2-fid | var. kingii |
1. Petals white or rarely pink, apex entire or erose | var. glabrescens |
1. Basal leaf blades 0.3-1.5 cm, straight or recurved, rigid; sepals 5-8(-9) mm | var. hookeri |
1. Basal leaf blades 2-4 cm, straight, rigid or flexible; sepals (7-)8-10 mm | var. pinetorum |
OR
CalFlora
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
KS Wildflowers
