Flora of North America species comparison

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Ivesia gordonii

Ivesia gordonii var. gordonii
Ivesia gordonii

alpine ivesia, alpine mousetail, Gordon's ivesia
Photo is of parent taxon

Gordon's ivesia
Habit Plants green, ± tufted, sometimes rosetted; taproot stout, not fleshy.
Stems

prostrate to erect, (0.2–)0.5–4 dm.

usually greenish, ascending to erect, (0.5–)1–2.5 dm, usually hirsute to villous, sometimes densely so, glandular-pubescent or eglandular.
Basal leaves

tightly to loosely cylindric, (1–)3–20(–25) cm; sheathing base ± glandular abaxially, otherwise glabrous;

petiole 0.5–8 cm, hairs 0.2–0.5 mm;

leaflets (6–)10–25 per side, (1–)2–13(–18) mm, glabrous or ± hirsute or villous, glandular-puberulent or -pubescent, lobes (2–)4–8(–15), linear or narrowly oblanceolate to obovate, apex rarely setose.

(3–)5–10(–15) × 0.5–1.5 cm;

leaflets (1–)3–7(–9) mm, hirsute to villous, sometimes hairy only marginally.
Cauline leaves

1(–2), not paired.

Inflorescences

5–50(–70)-flowered, 1–8(–11) cm diam.;

glomerules 1–several.

10–30-flowered, simple or branched, (1–)2–3(–5) cm diam., glomerules 1(–3), ± capitate.
Pedicels

1–3(–5) mm.

Flowers

5–12 mm diam.;

epicalyx bractlets linear to narrowly elliptic, (0.5–)1–3.5(–4) mm;

hypanthium turbinate to campanulate, (1.5–)2–4(–4.5) × 2–4(–5) mm;

sepals (2–)2.5–5(–6) mm, obtuse to ± acute;

petals yellow, narrowly oblanceolate to narrowly spatulate, (1–)1.5–3 mm;

stamens 5, filaments 1.3–2.5 mm, anthers yellow, sometimes red-margined, 0.5–1 mm;

carpels (1–)2–4(–6), styles 2.5–4.5(–6) mm.

7–12 mm diam.;

epicalyx bractlets (1.5–)2–3(–3.5) mm;

hypanthium 2–4 × 2.5–4 mm;

sepals (2.5–)3.5–5 mm, ± acute;

anthers rarely red-margined.
Achenes

grayish brown to mottled brown, ± 2 mm.

Ivesia gordonii

Ivesia gordonii var. gordonii
Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Gravelly to rocky flats, slopes, and outcrops, in grassland and sagebrush communities, montane and subalpine conifer woodlands
Elevation 2000–3600 m (6600–11800 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; UT; WY
Discussion

Varieties 4 (4 in the flora).

Ivesia gordonii is the most widespread species of the genus, occurring from Washington to Montana, south to central California and Colorado. The species can be distinguished from other members of sect. Ivesia by the relatively deep hypanthium, which is about as deep as wide. Four varieties are provisionally recognized here (B. Ertter and J. L. Reveal 2007), with the likelihood that future work may indicate additional and/or alternate circumscriptions. Populations that are difficult to assign to a variety can be found where the recognizable taxonomic units come together, for example, in northeastern Utah and western Wyoming, involving var. gordonii and var. wasatchensis, and in California and central Idaho where var. alpicola and var. ursinorum tend to merge.

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

Variety gordonii occurs from western Montana and eastern Idaho through western and central Wyoming to western Colorado, and in the Uinta and Wasatch mountains of northeastern Utah. Plants have either villous stems, or stems that are both hirsute to villous and glandular-puberulent or -pubescent. Leaflets are usually densely hirsute, and the inflorescence is nearly always simply capitate. The variety is most distinctive at relatively low elevations in Montana south to the Uinta Mountains (Utah) and Moffat County, Colorado, where it is an erect, medium-sized plant with densely hairy leaves. Some populations here assigned to var. gordonii have features of var. wasatchensis, such as branched inflorescences in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, or glabrate vestiture in the northern Colorado Rocky Mountains.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaflets 7–13(–18) mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute or villous marginally; stems (1–)1.5–4 dm; inflorescences usually branched, 2–8(–11) cm diam., glomerules (1–)2–6(–10), ± capitate.
var. wasatchensis
1. Leaflets (1–)2–7(–9) mm, hairy or ± glabrous except marginally ciliate; stems (0.2–)0.5–2.5 dm; inflorescences simple or branched, 1–3(–5) cm diam., glomerules 1(–3), ± capitate to loosely congested
→ 2
2. Stems usually prostrate to ascending, rarely nearly erect, usually dark reddish, minutely glandular or glandular-puberulent to -pubescent; leaves to 0.8 cm diam.; anthers usually red-margined.
var. ursinorum
2. Stems usually ascending to erect, sometimes decumbent, usually greenish, rarely reddish, hirsute to villous, glandular-puberulent to -pubescent; leaves to 1.5 cm diam.; anthers rarely red-margined
→ 3
3. Stems usually hirsute to villous, sometimes densely so, glandular-pubescent or eglandular; basal leaves (3–)5–10(–15) cm; flowers 7–12 mm diam.; e Idaho and w Montana to Utah, Wyoming, and w Colorado.
var. gordonii
3. Stems not or sparsely hirsute to villous, glandular-puberulent or -pubescent; basal leaves 2–8(–10) cm; flowers 5–9 mm diam.; s Washington to California and e to w Montana.
var. alpicola
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 233. FNA vol. 9, p. 234.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Ivesia > sect. Ivesia Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Ivesia > sect. Ivesia > Ivesia gordonii
Sibling taxa
I. aperta, I. argyrocoma, I. arizonica, I. baileyi, I. callida, I. campestris, I. cryptocaulis, I. jaegeri, I. kingii, I. longibracteata, I. lycopodioides, I. muirii, I. multifoliolata, I. paniculata, I. patellifera, I. pickeringii, I. pityocharis, I. pygmaea, I. rhypara, I. sabulosa, I. santolinoides, I. saxosa, I. sericoleuca, I. setosa, I. shockleyi, I. tweedyi, I. unguiculata, I. utahensis, I. webberi
I. gordonii var. alpicola, I. gordonii var. ursinorum, I. gordonii var. wasatchensis
Subordinate taxa
I. gordonii var. alpicola, I. gordonii var. gordonii, I. gordonii var. ursinorum, I. gordonii var. wasatchensis
Synonyms Horkelia gordonii, Potentilla gordonii
Name authority (Hooker) Torrey & A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 6(3): 72. (1858) unknown
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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