Ivesia argyrocoma
Ivesia campestris
silver-hair ivesia, silverhair mousetail
field ivesia, field mousetail, Kaweah ivesia
decumbent to ascending, 1–3.5 dm.
(3–)5–15(–18) cm; sheathing base glabrous or sparsely strigose abaxially;
stipules ± lanceolate, 2.5–5 mm;
petiole (0.3–)0.5–6(–8) cm, hairs sparse to abundant, appressed-ascending, 1–2 mm;
leaflets 15–20 per side, loosely overlapping, 2–10 mm, lobes 2–5, oblanceolate, hairs sparse to abundant, spreading to ascending, 1–2 mm.
3–4.
5–20(–40)-flowered, (1–)1.5–2.5(–4) cm diam., flowers arranged in 1–few ± tight glomerules of 10–15 flowers.
1–4 mm.
7–10 mm diam.;
epicalyx bractlets linear to oblong, 1–2(–2.5) mm;
hypanthium campanulate, 1–2 × 2.5–4 mm, ± 1/2 as deep as wide;
sepals green, 2–3(–3.5) mm, acute;
petals 4(–5), light yellow, oblanceolate to spatulate or narrowly obovate, 3–4 mm;
stamens 12–16 (4-merous flowers) or 16–20 (5-merous flowers), filaments filiform, 0.6–1.1 mm, anthers yellowish, 0.3–0.5 mm;
carpels 4–20, styles 1.4–2 mm.
light brown, 1–1.5 mm.
Ivesia argyrocoma
Ivesia campestris
Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).
Plants from the central Sierra San Pedro Mártir in northern Baja California belong to var. moranii Ertter & Reveal, which may be distinguished by its compact stature (to 0.5 dm), densely villous basal stipules 2–4 mm, decumbent stems 2–7 cm that are stipitate-glandular under the villous indumentum, and solitary, loosely congested cyme. The petals are oblanceolate to narrowly obovate and 2.5–3.5 mm. The grayish, faintly mottled achenes are 1.3–2 mm.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Ivesia campestris is found in the southern Sierra Nevada south of the Kings River, where it replaces I. unguiculata and often occurs at higher elevations.
Ivesia campestris is the only member of the genus that commonly has 4-merous flowers. It is sometimes misidentified as I. unguiculata, especially when the pale yellow petals have faded to creamy white; the glomerules of the inflorescences tend to be yellowish green to green rather than purplish. Also, the anthers of I. campestris are yellowish, rather than maroon.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
