Flora of North America species comparison

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Horkelia fusca

Horkelia fusca var. brownii

dusky, horkelia, pinewoods, pinewoods horkelia, tawny horkelia
Photo is of parent taxon

Shasta horkelia, tawny horkelia
Stems

1–4.5 dm.
Basal leaves

(3–)4–20(–40) × (1–)1.5–4(–7) cm;

leaflets narrowly cuneate to obovate to flabellate, 5–30(–35) × 2–20(–30) mm, 1/3 as wide to wider than long, divided into linear or oblanceolate to obovate teeth or lobes, sparsely to ± densely short-villous or hirsute, sometimes glabrate.

grayish, 4–12(–18) cm;

leaflets 3–7 per side, narrowly to broadly cuneate, 5–15(–17) × 2–8(–12) mm, usually 1/3–1/2 as wide as long, divided 1/4–1/2 to midrib into 4–6 teeth, surfaces often obscured, ± densely short-villous.
Cauline leaves

1–5(or 6).

2–4;

leaflets of proximalmost 2–4 per side.
Inflorescences

grayish or purplish, usually ± congested, sometimes more open, usually comprising less than 1/6 of stem, composed of 5–20(–40)-flowered glomerules, glandular hairs usually not red-septate;

bracts acuminate-lobed, often ± obscuring pedicels and flowers even at maturity.
Flowers

5–12 mm diam.;

epicalyx bractlets 1–3 mm, 1/2 length of to nearly equal to sepals;

hypanthium 1–3 × 2–4 mm, 1/2 to nearly as deep as wide;

sepals spreading to ± reflexed, narrowly to broadly lanceolate, (1.7–)2–4(–4.5) mm;

petals 2–6(–6.5) mm;

filaments 0.2–1.5 × (0.2–)0.4–0.6(–1) mm, anthers 0.4–0.6 mm;

styles 0.9–1.5 mm.

epicalyx bractlets 1.5–2.5 mm;

hypanthium 1.5–2.5 × 2.5–4 mm;

petals 2–3(–4.5) mm;

filaments (0.2–)0.6–1 mm, usually longer than wide, anthers 0.3–0.5 mm;

styles 1 mm.
Achenes

brown.

1–1.2 mm.
2n

= 28.

Horkelia fusca

Horkelia fusca var. brownii
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Dry meadow edges in conifer woodlands, on pumice or sandy or clay soil
Elevation 900–2000 m [3000–6600 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA; WY
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR
Discussion

Varieties 7 (7 in the flora).

Horkelia fusca represents the primary radiation of the genus beyond the California Floristic Province. Within California, H. fusca occurs in the Sierra Nevada and mountains of northern California, and it is the only representative of the genus extending beyond California and Oregon into Washington, Idaho, Nevada [with the possible exception of H. tridentata (10e. sect. Tridentatae) in Washoe County], and, questionably, Wyoming.

As here circumscribed, Horkelia fusca is the most diverse, most widely distributed species in the genus, with significant additional work needed to fully elucidate its variation patterns. The treatment presented here differs from that of D. D. Keck (1938) and B. Ertter (1993d) in using the rank variety instead of subspecies, circumscribing var. capitata more narrowly, and transferring the application of var. pseudocapitata from what is here called var. brownii to the bulk of what had been subsp. capitata (Lindley) D. D. Keck (B. Ertter and J. L. Reveal 2007).

There are two types of basal leaves in plants of Horkelia fusca. The ephemeral early-season leaves have leaflets that tend to be broadly cuneate-obovate, shallowly toothed, densely glandular but otherwise sparsely hairy, and deeply veined. The leaf features described below are drawn from the more persistent, mid season leaves that predominate at peak flowering and differ more strongly among varieties.

Petals of first-formed flowers are often larger than average; end-of-season petals can be smaller than average.

Although Montana is sometimes included in the range of Horkelia fusca, such references are based only on potential occurrence (W. E. Booth and J. C. Wright 1959).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Variety brownii here takes the place of var./subsp. pseudocapitata as used in D. D. Keck (1938) and most floras; this variant was included within var. parviflora by B. Ertter (1993d). The diagnostic feature is the ash gray leaflets, which also tend to be more narrowly cuneate than in other varieties. The variety occurs from Mount Shasta in Siskiyou County east to southwestern Modoc County and southeast to Sierra Valley in Plumas and Sierra counties, California, skirting the range of var. tenella. Morphologically comparable plants occur as far south as the California-Nevada border on the south side of Lake Tahoe, and at least one collection from Nevada (Reno, Hillman s.n., POM) is closest to this variety. Populations from the southeastern end of the range tend to be larger and less ash gray than those in the vicinity of Mount Shasta. Most references to var. brownii (as var./subsp. pseudocapitata misapplied) from Oregon are probably best attributed to the polymorphic var. parviflora, but at least one collection from Klamath Lake (Newberry s.n., GH) fits well in var. brownii.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Horkelia > sect. Capitatae Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Horkelia > sect. Capitatae > Horkelia fusca
Sibling taxa
H. bolanderi, H. californica, H. clevelandii, H. congesta, H. cuneata, H. daucifolia, H. hendersonii, H. hispidula, H. howellii, H. marinensis, H. parryi, H. rydbergii, H. sericata, H. tenuiloba, H. tridentata, H. truncata, H. tularensis, H. wilderae, H. yadonii
H. fusca var. capitata, H. fusca var. filicoides, H. fusca var. fusca, H. fusca var. parviflora, H. fusca var. pseudocapitata, H. fusca var. tenella
Subordinate taxa
H. fusca var. brownii, H. fusca var. capitata, H. fusca var. filicoides, H. fusca var. fusca, H. fusca var. parviflora, H. fusca var. pseudocapitata, H. fusca var. tenella
Key
1. Leaflets divided ± 1/2–3/4+ to midrib
→ 2
1. Leaflets divided less than 1/2 to midrib
→ 4
2. Inflorescences usually with flowers arranged individually; sw Oregon.
var. filicoides
2. Inflorescences composed of 3–20-flowered glomerules, (flowers rarely arranged individually in var. fusca); ne California, nw Oregon, sw Washington
→ 3
3. Leaflets divided ± 1/2 to midrib, 5–18(–20) × 4–15 mm; petals 3–5 mm; filaments 0.5–1.3 mm, longer than wide; nw Oregon, sw Washington.
var. fusca
3. Leaflets divided 3/4+ to midrib, 5–10(–15) × 2–10(–20) mm; petals 2–3(–4) mm; filaments 0.2–0.5 mm, wider than long; ne California.
var. tenella
4. Leaves grayish, surfaces often obscured, ± densely short-villous; leaflets narrowly to broadly cuneate, usually 1/3–1/2 as wide as long; ne California, adjacent Oregon and Nevada.
var. brownii
4. Leaves green, surfaces not obscured, ± short-hirsute, villous, or glabrate; leaflets cuneate to broadly obovate, 1/2 to wider than long; California to Washington, Idaho, Wyoming
→ 5
5. Inflorescences dark reddish purple, densely congested, bracts acuminate-lobed, obscuring pedicels and flowers even at maturity, glandular hairs usually conspicuously red-septate; epicalyx bractlets (2–)3.5–5(–6) mm; cauline leaves 3–6, leaflets of proximalmost 3–5 per side; ne Oregon, se Washington, n Idaho.
var. capitata
5. Inflorescences green to reddish purple, congested to open, bracts acute-lobed, not obscuring pedicels and flowers at maturity, glandular hairs not or obscurely red-septate; epicalyx bractlets 1–3.5(–4) mm; cauline leaves 1–4(or 5), leaflets of proximalmost 2–4(or 5) per side; Cascade-Sierra axis of Oregon, California, e to Wyoming and n Nevada
→ 6
6. Petals (3–)4–6 mm; leaflets 10–30(–35) × (5–)10–20(–25) mm; epicalyx bractlets 2–3.5(–4) mm; mountains in and bordering n Intermountain Region, ne California, n Nevada, se Oregon, s Idaho.
var. pseudocapitata
6. Petals 2–4.5(–6.5) mm; leaflets 5–15(–20) × (2–)5–10(–15) mm; epicalyx bractlets 1–2(–3) mm; Sierra Nevada, California and Nevada, to Cascade Ranges, c Oregon, and mountains of c Idaho, adjacent Wyoming.
var. parviflora
Synonyms Potentilla douglasii H. brownii
Name authority Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 23: plate 1997. (1837) (Rydberg) Ertter & Reveal: Novon 17: 319. (2007)
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 259. Treatment authors: Barbara Ertter, James L. Reveal. FNA vol. 9, p. 263. Treatment authors: Barbara Ertter, James L. Reveal.
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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