Flora of North America species comparison

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Kopsiopsis strobilacea

Kopsiopsis hookeri
Kopsiopsis strobilacea

California ground-cone
Kopsiopsis hookeri

as in ifbc, coast groundcone, Hooker's groundcone, poque, small ground-cone, Vancouver groundcone
Stems

dark red-brown or purple, sometimes yellow, (100–)140–260(–300) mm, stout, 10–30 mm diam.

dark red-brown, purple, or yellow, 55–160 mm, slender, 5–17 mm diam.
Leaves

imbricate;

blade lanceolate, ovate, or broadly triangular, 7–12 × 7–15 mm, margins entire, sometimes ± erose, apex obtuse.

tightly to loosely imbricate;

blade triangular-obovate or rhombic, 6–12 × 5–12 mm, margins finely erose, apex obtuse or ± acute.
Inflorescences

compact or open racemes, 2–5 cm diam.;

bracts spreading, dark purple or yellow, spatulate or broadly oblanceolate, 8–17(–20) × 8–15(–19) mm, margins entire or ± erose, frequently white-translucent or lavender, apex obtuse or truncate, rolled adaxially.

compact racemes, 6–10 cm diam.;

bracts erect, sometimes spreading, purple or yellow, narrowly spatulate or lanceolate, 7–11(–14) × 6–10 mm, margins erose, frequently white-translucent, apex obtuse or acute, slightly rolled adaxially.
Pedicels

0–1.5(–3.5) mm;

bracteoles 0–2.

0–1.5 mm;

bracteoles 2.
Flowers

dark purple, sometimes yellow, 15–20 mm;

calyx cup 1–3 mm deep, lobes sometimes deciduous, 0–5, attenuate to filiform, equal to or shorter than cup;

corolla lobe margins white, lavender, or pinkish, glabrous, sometimes ciliate, abaxial lip as long as or slightly shorter than adaxial lip, lobes 3–5 mm, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded, adaxial lip margins inrolled;

filaments with tuft of hair at base, sparsely villous distally, anthers villous, ± exserted, base mucronulate, sterile appendage (connective) minute or absent;

style equal to or shorter than stamens;

stigma capitate or 2–4-lobed;

carpels 4;

placentae (3 or)4.

dark purple, pink, or frequently yellow, 10–15 mm;

calyx cup 1–3 mm deep, lobes persistent, 2–4, attenuate or linear-subulate, equal to cup;

corolla lobe margins white, lavender, wine red, pink, or yellow, minutely ciliate, abaxial lip shorter than adaxial, lobes 3–5 mm, apex apiculate, adaxial lip margins inrolled;

filaments with tuft of hair at base, glabrous distally, anthers glabrous or sparsely villous after anthesis, included, base rounded, sterile appendage (connective) short;

style equal to or longer than stamens;

stigma obscurely 2- or 3-lobed;

carpels 3;

placentae 3.
Capsules

(3 or)4-valved.

3-valved.
Seeds

2–3 mm.

1.5–2 mm.
Tuberlike

bases 25–55(–90) mm diam., surface coarsely tessellate.

bases 20–50 mm diam., surface finely tessellate.

Kopsiopsis strobilacea

Kopsiopsis hookeri
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jul.
Habitat Coastal mountains, open woodlands, chaparral, dry forests with Arbutus and Arctostaphylos. Sandy coastal areas in thickets.
Elevation 300–3000 m. [1000–9800 ft.] 0–700 m. [0–2300 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Kopsiopsis strobilacea is parasitic on Arbutus menziesii and inland species of Arctostaphylos. Some populations in Marin, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties, California, and Jackson and Josephine counties, Oregon, where the ranges of the two species would allow contact, present characters intermediate with K. hookeri. The intermediate conditions observed were corolla lobes more or less ciliate versus glabrous and floral bracts narrower (almost lanceolate versus spatulate); intermediate specimens examined are at CAS, GH, NY, ORE, OSC, and RSA. Although the two species are almost completely allopatric, morphological evidence points to the possibility that some genetic exchange has occurred between the two species. The intermediate conditions were observed only in individuals within populations of K. strobilacea in the northern portion of the geographical range. No intermediate characters were observed in K. hookeri.

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

Kopsiopsis hookeri is a coastal species parasitic on Gaultheria shallon (Ericaceae) and confined to the range of the host species. It has been reported rarely on Alnus, Arbutus, and Arctostaphylos. Reports on Pinus are clearly spurious. It is often confused with K. strobilacea because of their close morphological similarity, but K. hookeri is a much smaller plant.

The range of Kopsiopsis hookeri is from southern Oregon and northwestern California to the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) in British Columbia, with apparently disjunct populations in isolated locations in California. A few historic collections at CAS and UC from southern California are morphologically indistinguishable from typical K. hookeri, indicating that this taxon may have once occurred south of its present distributional boundary. Populations represented by specimen records from Marin (1925, 1944, 1958), Mendocino (1966), and Monterey (1957) counties may still be extant and indicate the need for additional studies to determine the current range of the species. A single specimen from Los Angeles County may be mislabeled, as this area is outside the range of the host taxon.

No morphological evidence was observed in the disjunct populations to suggest genetic influence from Kopsiopsis strobilacea; refer to 1. K. strobilacea for further discussion.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Parent taxa Orobanchaceae > Kopsiopsis Orobanchaceae > Kopsiopsis
Sibling taxa
K. hookeri
K. strobilacea
Synonyms Boschniakia strobilacea Boschniakia hookeri
Name authority (A. Gray) Beck: in H. G. A. Engler, Pflanzenr. 96[IV,261]: 306. (1930) (Walpers) Govaerts: World Checkl. Seed Pl. 2: 14. (1996)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 465. Treatment authors: L. Turner Collins, Alison E. L. Colwell, George Yatskievych. FNA vol. 17, p. 466. Treatment authors: L. Turner Collins, Alison E. L. Colwell, George Yatskievych.
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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