Flora of North America species comparison

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Gymnosperma

gymnosperma
Habit Shrubs, 50–150(–200) cm (glabrous, heavily resinous; taprooted).
Stems

erect, branched.
Leaves

cauline; alternate;

sessile;

blades (1- or 3-nerved, parallel in wider blades) linear to narrowly lanceolate, oblanceolate, or elliptic (bases decurrent), margins entire (minutely papillate-ciliolate, apices often recurving or slightly falcate), faces gland-dotted (in pits).
Involucres

cylindro-turbinate to elliptic-obovoid, (3–3.8 ×) 1.5–2 mm.
Receptacles

flat, pitted (glabrous), epaleate.
Ray florets

4–9, pistillate, fertile;

corollas yellow.
Disc florets

4–6, bisexual and fertile, sometimes functionally staminate;

corollas orange-yellow, tubes about equaling tubular-funnelform throats, lobes 5, reflexing-coiling, lanceolate;

style-branch appendages lanceolate to narrowly oblong-lanceolate (papillate).
Phyllaries

7–12 in 2–4 series, 1-nerved (midveins not evident; convex) ovate to lanceolate, unequal, mostly completely whitish indurate, outer sometimes faintly green at tips, margins scarious, abaxial faces glabrous.
Heads

radiate, (sessile to subsessile) in compact glomerules, in terminal, corymbiform arrays.
Cypselae

columnar or fusiform, terete or slightly compressed, 6–8-nerved (nerves barely evident on rays, usually completely subepidermal on discs), white-strigillose (hairs apically rounded-acute);

pappi essentially 0 or coroniform (less than 0.1 mm, margins erose or toothed).
x

= 4 or 8.

Gymnosperma
Distribution
from USDA
w North America; Mexico; Central America (Guatemala)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 1.

Gymnosperma is an abundant element of the dry upland flora from the southwestern United States through Mexico to Guatemala, recognized by its shrubby habit, resinous stems, leaves, and heads, small heads in dense, terminal corymbiform arrays, few and inconspicuous rays, and epappose cypselae. It differs from Gutierrezia in its tendency to produce cylindric heads, glabrous receptacles, ray florets with short laminae, and more reduced pappi.

Gymnosperma, Gutierrezia, Amphiachyris, and Thurovia apparently constitute a monophyletic group (M. A. Lane 1982; Y. Suh and B. B. Simpson 1990; G. L. Nesom 1993b), sharing small heads with few florets, similar phyllaries, reduced pappi, reduced chromosome numbers, and similar geographies. Gymnosperma is the basal element in this group; its chromosome number (2n = 16) may be tetraploid (based on x = 4, with a similar marked reduction from x = 9, like those of its close relatives); or it may be diploid (based on x = 8, still a reduction from x = 9). Lane (1996) suggested that the closest relative of Gymnosperma is the Caribbean genus Gundlachia A. Gray (x = 9), citing vegetative and reproductive similarities.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 20, p. 94. Author: Guy L. Nesom.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Astereae
Subordinate taxa
G. glutinosum
Synonyms Selloa
Name authority Lessing: Syn. Gen. Compos., 194. (1832)
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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