Flora of North America species comparison

Of conservation concern.

Variety shockleyi occurs mainly on rocky slopes and talus near and above timberline from the crest of the northern and central Sierra Nevada in California and adjacent Nevada, to Lake and Malheur counties, Oregon, and on scattered sky islands as far as the Toquima Range (Nye County) and Jarbidge Mountains (Elko County) of Nevada. These isolated populations have developed variation that merits further analysis: plants from the northern Intermountain Region tend to have flowers and leaflets larger than those in the Sierra Nevada; central Nevada populations approach var. ostleri in leaflet number and inflorescence size. The Malheur County plants are unusual in occurring on canyon rimrock (West Little Owyhee River) 1000 m lower than any other known population, near I. baileyi var. beneolens on adjacent canyon walls.

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

Species 11 (11 in the flora).

The planar-leaved, chasmophytic members of sect. Setosae found in and around the mountains centered on the Mojave Desert are hypothesized to represent the ancestral radiation of Ivesia, on the basis of morphology and distribution. A secondary radiation northward into the Great Basin is characterized by a complete sequence in size reduction, dissection, and increased number of leaflets, paralleled by a reduction in numbers of floral parts. Ivesia saxosa retains the most pleisiomorphies and could readily be accommodated within Potentilla in the strict sense, as has commonly been done. Gross morphology of I. saxosa is nearly identical to that of I. arizonica, which has been treated as a distinct genus, Purpusia, on the basis of its lack of an epicalyx, deep hypanthium, and stipelike torus. The narrow endemic I. patellifera is intermediate between these two species, and an identical habit is shared by I. baileyi and I. jaegeri, which have more dissected leaflets and more reduced flowers. All of these species are now placed in the same genus, either as Ivesia (B. Ertter 1989) or as Potentilla (J. T. Howell 1945).

Most species in sect. Setosae are more or less petrophytic (in contrast to other sections), often growing in crevices of vertical cliffs. The protection offered by these habitats often allows extended blooming periods and resultant indeterminate inflorescences that produce flowers as long as conditions are suitable, including at the height of summer when relatively few other desert species are in bloom. Stems can initially radiate in almost all directions relative to the substrate (vertical in chasmophytes, horizontal in others), but they generally succumb to gravity with increased number of flowers and become either pendent or prostrate. In particularly favorable years, blooming season and flower number can exceed the ranges given here. The small but often numerous flowers are visited by a wide diversity of potential pollinators, including ants, which are attracted to the glistening, nectariferous hypanthial disc. Most species of sect. Setosae have carunculate seeds, which may indicate that ants play a role in seed dispersal, a particularly useful adaptation for chasmophytic plants.

Since Ivesia longibracteata (sect. Ivesia) is sometimes identified as a member of sect. Setosae, it is included herein and keys out in the sixth couplet.

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