Horkelia fusca
Horkelia fusca var. parviflora
dusky, horkelia, pinewoods, pinewoods horkelia, tawny horkelia
small-flower horkelia, tawny horkelia
1–4.5 dm.
(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.
green, 4–15(–18) cm;
leaflets 4–8 per side, cuneate to broadly obovate, 5–15(–20) × (2–)5–10(–15) mm, 1/2 as wide to wider than long, divided 1/4–1/2 to midrib into 4–6(–10) teeth, surfaces not obscured, sparsely to moderately hirsute or villous, sometimes glabrate.
1–5(or 6).
1–3(or 4);
leaflets of proximalmost 2–4(or 5) per side.
green to purplish, congested to open, usually comprising less than 1/4 of stem, composed of 5–20-flowered glomerules, glandular hairs not red-septate;
bracts acute-lobed, not obscuring pedicels and flowers at maturity.
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 1–2(–3) mm;
hypanthium 1.5–2 × 2–3.5 mm;
petals 2–4.5(–6.5) mm;
filaments 0.2–1 mm, usually longer than wide, anthers 0.3–0.5 mm;
styles 0.9–1.1 mm.
brown.
1–1.2 mm.
= 28.
Horkelia fusca
Horkelia fusca var. parviflora
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 parviflora is the most widespread and polymorphic in the species and might represent the repository for variation that is not accommodated by the other, more tightly circumscribed varieties. Population clusters occur in three discrete areas: the Sierra Nevada of eastern California and adjacent Nevada, the mountains of northern California extending north in the Cascade Range to central Oregon, and the mountains of central Idaho. Each of these three areas has plants that differ slightly from those of the other two.
The most distinct phase is found in the Cascade Range of Oregon, with larger-than-average petals and highly branched inflorescences. Plants from Lost Prairie in eastern Linn County are particularly anomalous, with petals to 6.5 mm; further studies may indicate that these deserve separate recognition.
Plants from the Sierra Nevada tend to have smaller petals, and those in the higher southern Sierra Nevada tend to have capitate or subcapitate inflorescences. From about Lake Tahoe northward, inflorescences tend to be somewhat more open but still congested compared to the Oregon phase.
The Idaho phase, represented by the type of var. parviflora, has petals that run the full range from 2–4 mm, with most individuals having a slightly branched inflorescence. Unlike those of the other two phases, both the hypanthia and sepals are often purple; the hypanthium is otherwise typically greenish with only the sepals themselves a dark purple. The sole Wyoming record (D. R. Goddard 1027, F, UC) has yet to be confirmed by more recent collections in Yellowstone National Park. These plants have pale inflorescences, relatively blunt sepals, and short epicalyx bractlets, differing in these features from the closest populations in central Idaho. For reports from Montana, see species discussion.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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 |
CA
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
