Flora of North America species comparison

greenish, freely branching, forming large, open clumps, 2–2.5 cm diam., fleshy, with fibrous bases of old leaves not covering rhizome but persisting on ringlike scars.

much branched, forming dense clumps, dark red-brown, very slender, 0.3–0.6 cm diam., covered with remains of old leaves;

roots fibrous.

1-branched, solid, 3–10 dm.

simple, solid, 1.5–2.5 dm.

basal usually dying back shortly after anthesis, blade bright green, 6–10 dm × 0.8–2 cm, sometimes glaucescent;

cauline with blade elongate, linear-attenuate, 15–20 cm, exceeding flowers.

basal few, laxly spreading, longer than stem, blade bright dark green adaxially, flushed pink basally, veins subprominent, linear, 2.8–4.8 dm × 0.5–0.8 cm, rather glaucous abaxially, margins thickened, apex acute;

cauline imbricated, sheathing, free only at tips, bracteiform, blade green edged with pink, strongly striate, inflated, apex acuminate.

1–3-flowered, branch units 1–2-flowered;

spathes lanceolate, subequal or unequal, apex acute;

outer 8–10 cm, herbaceous, margins scarious;

inner 6–9 cm, completely scarious.

1–2-flowered;

spathes green with prominent red margins, inflated, broadly lanceolate-ovate, 5.6–7 cm × 8–13 mm, unequal, outer shorter than inner, herbaceous, apex acuminate.

perianth blue to blue-violet (white in forma albispiritis);

floral tube funnelform, 1.2–1.5 cm;

sepals blue or pale violet with flecks of white and lines of deeper blue on either side of ridge, spatulate, elliptic to ovate, 7–8 cm, apex acuminate, ridge yellow, linear, extending to about middle of limb, finely pubescent, claw light green, striated, ribbed, 1–1.2 cm;

petals erect or spreading-erect, deep blue, linear to narrowly linear-spatulate, 6–7.5 cm, base abruptly attenuate into claw, claw channeled, green with darker lines, margins pale;

ovary bluntly 3-angled, ridged at each angle and on faces between angles;

style linear-acute, 5–6 cm;

crests ovate, 1–2 cm, margins sharply and irregularly toothed;

stigmas broadly 2-lobed, margins crenate;

pedicel 1.6–2 cm.

perianth pale creamy yellow flushed with pale lavender, with conspicuous brownish purple lines;

floral tube linear, 3–5 cm, somewhat dilated apically;

sepals widely spreading, veined and dotted with deeper purple on claw and limb, oblanceolate, 5.5–8.4 × 1.6–2.7 cm;

petals spreading, lanceolate, 5–7 × 1–2 cm, margins sinuate;

ovary trigonal in cross section with groove along each angle, narrow, 1–1.5 cm;

style 2–3 cm, crests narrowly semiovate or nearly linear, laciniate, 1–2 cm;

stigmas rounded-truncate to 2-lobed, never triangular, margins minutely denticulate;

pedicel 1–2 cm.

ellipsoid, round in cross section, roundly 6-lobed, with 6 sharp, winglike, equally spaced ridges converging to form stout beak at apex, 6–10 cm, dehiscence loculicidal.

oblong-ovoid, trigonal, somewhat beaked, 2–3 cm.

in 1 row per locule, brown, circular or uneven, flattened, 8–12 mm diam, very corky.

light brown, D-shaped, oblong-ovoid, thick, finely wrinkled.

= 44.

= 40.