Horkelia fusca var. pseudocapitata
Horkelia fusca var. capitata
intermountain horkelia, tawny horkelia
horkelia, Palouse horkelia
3–6 dm.
4–9 dm.
green, 10–35(–40) cm;
leaflets 4–6(or 7) per side, narrowly to broadly obovate, 10–30(–35) × (5–)10–20(–25) mm, 1/2 to nearly as wide as long, divided 1/5–1/4 to midrib into 8–14 teeth, surfaces not obscured, ± sparsely hirsute to glabrate.
green, 10–20(–35) cm;
leaflets 4–6(–8) per side, cuneate to broadly obovate, 10–30(–35) × 10–25(–30) mm, 1/2 to as wide as long; divided 1/5–1/4 to midrib into 8–15 teeth, surfaces not obscured, ± sparsely short-hirsute to glabrate.
1–4(or 5);
leaflets of proximalmost 2 or 3(–5) per side.
3–6;
leaflets of proximalmost 3–5 per side.
green to reddish purple, congested to open, comprising 1/6–1/3 of stem, composed of 10–30-flowered glomerules, glandular hairs not or obscurely red-septate;
bracts acute-lobed, not obscuring pedicels and flowers at maturity.
dark reddish purple, densely congested, comprising no more than 1/6 of stem, composed of 5–30-flowered glomerules, glandular hairs usually conspicuously red-septate;
bracts acuminate-lobed, obscuring pedicels and flowers even at maturity.
epicalyx bractlets 2–3.5(–4) mm;
hypanthium 2 × 2.5–4 mm;
petals (3–)4–6 mm;
filaments 0.5–1.5 mm, usually longer than wide, anthers 0.5–0.6 mm;
styles 1–1.5 mm.
epicalyx bractlets (2–)3.5–5(–6) mm;
hypanthium 2–3 × 3–5 mm;
petals 4–6.5 mm;
filaments 0.5–1.5 mm, longer than wide, anthers 0.5–0.6 mm;
styles 1–1.5 mm.
1.6–1.8 mm.
1.6–1.8 mm.
= 28.
Horkelia fusca var. pseudocapitata
Horkelia fusca var. capitata
The application of the epithet pseudocapitata here differs significantly from that of P. A. Rydberg (1908c), D. D. Keck (1938), and most floras, who used it for the taxon that is here called var. brownii. Instead, var. pseudocapitata encompasses the bulk of what had been called var. (or subsp.) capitata, except in mountains bordering the Palouse Prairie in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. For nomenclatural details, see B. Ertter and J. L Reveal (2007).
As here circumscribed, var. pseudocapitata is a relatively large, big-petaled variety that grows in the mountains in and bordering the northern Intermountain Region in northeastern California (primarily the Warner Mountains), northern Nevada, southeastern Oregon, and southern Idaho, extending northward along valleys from Camas to Blaine counties. Intermediate plants are common where the range intersects those of var. brownii, var. capitata, and var. parviflora, though in the core of its range var. pseudocapitata is reasonably distinctive and uniform.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
As here circumscribed, var. capitata is found in meadow margins and grassy openings in the forested mountains surrounding the Palouse Prairie (in the broad sense) of northern Idaho, southeastern Washington, and northeastern Oregon. This is a significantly more limited range than accepted by D. D. Keck (1938) and in subsequent floras (for example, B. Ertter 1993d), with the bulk of what had been treated as var. (or subsp.) capitata here treated as var. pseudocapitata. The distinctions between the two varieties are more matters of degree than absolute differences, var. capitata generally having more congested, more purple, more glandular inflorescences in which the pedicels and hypanthia remain covered by larger involucral bracts divided into more elongate teeth. Plants of var. capitata can also be significantly larger, especially in the remnant prairie patches of northern Idaho, with more numerous cauline leaves having more pairs of larger leaflets. The extremes of the two varieties are reasonably distinct, with a significant biogeographic underpinning, but the differences merge in the Blue Mountains of Oregon.
Given the California focus of the published source (P. A. Munz 1959), the chromosome count of 2n = 28 for var. capitata is most likely based on material here treated as var. pseudocapitata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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