Hydrolea spinosa
Hydrolea corymbosa
spiny false fiddleleaf
skyflower
green, brown, or purple, densely pubescent, without glandular trichomes;
thorns rare, 1 per node or absent, 4–11 × 0.2–0.6 mm.
blades lanceolate, 2–5.5 × 0.3–1 cm, base acute to rounded, margins serrulate, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
terminal, leafy panicles or corymbs, 15–30-flowered.
sepals lanceolate, 4.5–7 × 1–2 mm, hispid-hirsute, with glandular trichomes;
corolla blue, petals 10–15 × 5–8 mm;
ovary glabrous or puberulent, upper 1/2 often with glandular trichomes;
styles 2, 5–10 mm, glandular-pubescent toward bases.
globose to slightly ovoid, 3–4.5 × 2.5–4 mm, upper 1/2 puberulent or glandular-pubescent.
broadly ovoid, symmetric, 0.6–0.7 × 0.3–0.4 mm.
Hydrolea spinosa
Hydrolea corymbosa
Varieties 3 (1 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Hydrolea corymbosa is morphologically very similar to the more western H. ovata, sharing the paniculate or corymbose type of inflorescence and similar stem and sepal pubescence. However, H. corymbosa is a much smaller and more slender plant with fewer (if any) thorns, stems that are dark brown or purple, and lanceolate leaves.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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