Flora of North America species comparison

caudex spreading;

aerial flowering stems erect or nearly so, slender, solid, not fistulose, arising at nodes of caudex branches and at distal nodes of short, nonflowering aerial branches, 0.4–1.2 dm, with a whorl of 4–8 leaflike bracts ca. midlength, similar to leaf blades, 0.3–1.5 × 0.1–0.3 cm.

prostrate to erect, with persistent leaf bases, glabrous, pubescent, or glandular;

caudex woody, tightly compact to spreading or erect and at or just below surface, or spreading to erect and above surface;

aerial flowering stems prostrate or decumbent to erect, slender to stout, usually solid or hollow, sometimes fistulose, not disarticulating in ringlike segments proximally, arising at nodes of caudex branches, at distal nodes of aerial branches or, rarely, directly from the root.

in basal rosettes;

petiole 0.05–0.5(–1) cm, tomentose;

blade oblanceolate or elliptic to spatulate, 0.4–1.5(–1.9) × 0.1–0.5 cm, lanate on both surfaces, or tomentose abaxially and slightly less so and greenish adaxially, margins entire, plane.

persistent through the growing season or longer, tufted at tips of caudices or whorled at base of stems in rosettes;

blade lanate, tomentose, floccose, villous, sericeous, or glabrous.

capitate, 0.8–1.5 cm wide;

branches absent;

bracts absent immediately below involucre.

simple- to compound-umbellate, usually open and spreading, occasionally reduced and subcapitate to capitate;

branches absent or round and smooth, tomentose to floccose or glabrous;

bracts usually 2–10 sometimes more, scalelike, semileaflike, or leaflike.

absent (or sometimes technically erect and slender, being that portion of “aerial flowering stem” above a whorl of leaflike bracts about midlength; not treated as a distinct structure here).

1 per node, turbinate to turbinate-campanulate, 2.5–3.5 × 2–2.5 mm;

teeth 6–14, lobelike, strongly reflexed, 1.5–4(–6) mm.

1 per node, rarely 2–3 per cluster, not appressed to inflorescence branches, turbinate to campanulate;

teeth 5–10 or more, erect or lobelike and spreading to reflexed.

4–9 mm, including 0.7–2 mm stipelike base;

perianth yellow, cream, or ochroleucous to rose-red, sparsely to densely villous abaxially;

tepals monomorphic, obovate;

stamens exserted, 4–6 mm;

filaments pilose proximally.

bisexual or unisexual, attenuate at base, stipelike base 0.1–3 mm;

perianth various shades of white, cream, yellow, pink, or reddish, glabrous or pubescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially;

tepals connate proximally 1/4–1/3 their length, monomorphic or dimorphic;

stamens usually exserted, occasionally included;

filaments pilose proximally, very rarely glabrous.

light brown, 3–4.5 mm, glabrous except for pubescent beak.

light to dark brown, not winged, 3-gonous, glabrous or pubescent only on beak.

embryo straight or curved.