Flora of North America species comparison

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Ericameria parryi

green rabbitbrush, Nevada rabbitbrush, Parry's goldenbush, Parry's rabbitbrush
Habit Plants 10–100 cm.
Stems

ascending to erect, greenish when young becoming tan and gray, sometimes fastigiately branched, densely white to grayish tomentose, eglandular.
Leaves

(sparse to crowded) erect to ascending or spreading;

blades linear to spatulate (plane or concave), 10–80 × 0.5–8(–14) mm, midnerves (sometimes + 2 laterals) evident, apices acute, faces glabrous or gray, greenish, or yellowish tomentose, sometimes viscid, sometimes gland-dotted or stipitate-glandular;

axillary leaf fascicles absent.
Peduncles

1–10+ mm (bracts 0–3, transitional from distal leaves to phyllaries).
Involucres

subcylindric, 9–18 × 4–8 mm.
Ray florets

0.
Disc florets

5–20;

corollas 8–12.5 mm.
Phyllaries

10–20 in 3–6 series, tan, ovate to lanceolate or elliptic, 5–11+ × 0.7–2 mm, subequal, mostly chartaceous, sometimes herbaceous-tipped, midnerves mostly evident, (margins narrowly membranous, entire, mostly tomentulose, rarely eciliate) apices acuminate to attenuate, abaxial faces usually tomentose, sometimes resinous.
Heads

usually in congested, racemiform or cymiform clusters, sometimes grouped in paniculiform or thyrsiform arrays, sometimes borne singly.
Cypselae

tan, narrowly ellipsoid to subturbinate, 3–8 mm, sericeous;

pappi off-white to brown, 3.3–7.5 mm.
2n

= 18.

Ericameria parryi
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NE; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 12 (12 in the flora).

Ericameria parryi is widespread, often abundant, and variable (some authors recognize additional varieties). It is reported to hybridize with E. nauseosa. This treatment is based largely on the extensive research on Ericameria and related taxa by L. C. Anderson (1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Heads 1–2(–4) at branch tips; leaves sparsely to densely tomentulose (2800–3700 m, California, Nevada)
var. monocephala
1. Heads (2–)4–20+ in cymiform, racemiform, sometimes branched and paniculiform or thyrsiform, arrays, sometimes in terminal glomerules, if heads 1–2, leaves glabrous, viscidulous (var. montana); leaves glabrous or hairy (often tomentulose to tomentose)
→ 2
2. Leaves oblanceolate, 5–14 mm wide (Califor-nia)
var. latior
2. Leaves linear, linear-spatulate, oblanceolate, or spatulate, 0.5–5 mm wide
→ 3
3. Leaves abundantly stipitate-glandular (never glabrous or otherwise hairy; California, Nevada)
var. aspera
3. Leaves glabrous or tomentulose to tomentose, usually eglandular, sometimes viscidulous or sparsely or minutely stipitate-glandular, or gland-dotted
→ 4
4. Distalmost leaves overtopping arrays
→ 5
4. Distalmost leaves usually shorter than or equaling (seldom overtopping) arrays
→ 10
5. Leaves minutely stipitate-glandular
var. parryi
5. Leaves not stipitate-glandular, sometimes gland-dotted (sessile), glabrous, moderately hairy, tomentose, or viscidulous
→ 7
6. Leaf faces glabrous, viscidulous.
→ 6
6. Leaf faces tomentulose, tomentose, or moderately hairy, sometimes gland-dotted
→ 8
7. Plants 10–20 cm; leaves 20–35 mm; corolla lobes 1.4–1.7; Idaho/Montana border
var. montana
7. Plants 30–60 cm; leaves 30–50(–80) mm; corolla lobes 1–1.5 mm; Salmon River drain-age, Idaho
E. var. salmonensis
8. Leaf faces glabrous or puberulent, often minutely stipitate-glandular; florets 8–20
var. parryi
8. Leaf faces tomentulose to tomentose, sometimes gland-dotted; florets 5–7(–8)
→ 9
9. Leaf faces tomentose, eglandular; corollas pale yellow; n Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, s Utah, Wyoming
var. howardii
9. Leaf faces densely tomentulose, gland-dotted; corollas clear yellow; Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah
var. nevadensis
10. Leaves 10–15 mm; outer phyllary apices sometimes reddish; florets 10–18 (California, s San Bernardino County)
var. imula
10. Leaves (15–)20–50(–80) mm; outer phyllary apices tan or greenish, not reddish; florets 4–10
→ 11
11. Leaves gland-dotted
→ 12
11. Leaves not gland-dotted
→ 13
12. Plants 20–60 cm; leaf faces densely tomentulose, gland-dotted; corolla lobes 1–1.5 mm; California (c, n Sierra Nevada, Great Basin), Nevada, Oregon, Utah
var. nevadensis
12. Plants 10–20 cm; leaf faces glabrous, minutely gland-dotted; corolla lobes 1.5–1.9 mm; California (s Sierra Nevada)
var. vulcanica
13. Leaf faces tomentulose; corolla lobes 0.7–1 mm
var. affinis
13. Leaves glabrous or sparsely hairy, sometimes ± viscid; corolla lobes 1–2 mm
→ 14
14. Corollas clear yellow, tubes glabrous, lobes 1.5–2 mm; Colorado, New Mexico, Utah
var. attenuata
14. Corollas pale yellow, tubes distally puberulent, lobes 1–1.5 mm; SalmonRiver drainage, Idaho
var. salmonensis
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 71.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae > Ericameria
Sibling taxa
E. albida, E. arborescens, E. arizonica, E. bloomeri, E. brachylepis, E. cervina, E. compacta, E. cooperi, E. crispa, E. cuneata, E. discoidea, E. ericoides, E. fasciculata, E. gilmanii, E. greenei, E. laricifolia, E. lignumviridis, E. linearifolia, E. linearis, E. nana, E. nauseosa, E. obovata, E. ophitidis, E. palmeri, E. paniculata, E. parishii, E. pinifolia, E. resinosa, E. suffruticosa, E. teretifolia, E. watsonii, E. winwardii, E. zionis
Subordinate taxa
E. parryi var. affinis, E. parryi var. aspera, E. parryi var. attenuata, E. parryi var. howardii, E. parryi var. imula, E. parryi var. latior, E. parryi var. monocephala, E. parryi var. montana, E. parryi var. nevadensis, E. parryi var. parryi, E. parryi var. salmonensis, E. parryi var. vulcanica, E. var. salmonensis
Synonyms Linosyris parryi
Name authority (A. Gray) G. L. Nesom & G. I. Baird: Phytologia 75: 88. (1993)
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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