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Ivesia gordonii

alpine ivesia, alpine mousetail, Gordon's ivesia

pine nut mountain mousetail, pine nut mountains ivesia

Habit Plants green, ± tufted, sometimes rosetted; taproot stout, not fleshy. Plants grayish green to silvery, sometimes reddish tinged; glands sparse.
Stems

prostrate to erect, (0.2–)0.5–4 dm.

prostrate-decumbent to ascending, 0.5–2(–3) dm.

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.

6–12(–15) cm; sheathing base weakly strigose abaxially;

stipules absent;

petiole (1–)1.5–2.5(–3) cm, hairs abundant, ascending to spreading, 1–4 mm;

leaflets 15–25 per side, loosely overlapping, (1.5–)2–7 mm, lobes 0–4(–6), lanceolate or oblanceolate to elliptic, hairs abundant, spreading to ascending, 1–3 mm.

Cauline leaves

1(–2), not paired.

2–5.

Inflorescences

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

glomerules 1–several.

(7–)15–50-flowered, 2–8 cm diam., flowers arranged individually and/or in several to many loose few-flowered glomerules.

Pedicels

1–3(–5) mm.

(3–)6–15(–22) 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.

8–13 mm diam.;

epicalyx bractlets lanceolate to elliptic, 2–3 mm;

hypanthium patelliform to shallowly cupulate, 1.5–2.5 × 3–4.5 mm, ± 1/2 as deep as wide;

sepals often purple-suffused, 2.3–4(–5) mm, acute;

petals white, broadly spatulate or obovate to orbiculate, (2.8–)3–5(–6) mm;

stamens 20, filaments filiform, (1–)1.5–3 mm, anthers light pink, 0.3–0.5 mm;

carpels 8–20, styles 2.2–3 mm.

Achenes

grayish brown to mottled brown, ± 2 mm.

light brown, 1.2–1.3 mm.

Ivesia gordonii

Ivesia pityocharis

Phenology Flowering summer.
Habitat Vernally saturated meadows, in sagebrush communities
Elevation 2100–2700 m (6900–8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
NV
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Of conservation concern.

Ivesia pityocharis is known only from the Pine Nut Mountains, Douglas County. Plants are somewhat intermediate between those of I. kingii and I. sericoleuca in having relatively shallow hypanthia and loosely sericeous vestiture. Hairs on petioles and stem bases of I. pityocharis are to 4 mm; those of I. kingii are 1 mm and generally appressed-ascending.

(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. 241.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Ivesia > sect. Ivesia Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Ivesia > sect. Unguiculatae
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. aperta, I. argyrocoma, I. arizonica, I. baileyi, I. callida, I. campestris, I. cryptocaulis, I. gordonii, I. jaegeri, I. kingii, I. longibracteata, I. lycopodioides, I. muirii, I. multifoliolata, I. paniculata, I. patellifera, I. pickeringii, I. pygmaea, I. rhypara, I. sabulosa, I. santolinoides, I. saxosa, I. sericoleuca, I. setosa, I. shockleyi, I. tweedyi, I. unguiculata, I. utahensis, I. webberi
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) Ertter: Syst. Bot. 14: 241, fig. 6. (1989)
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