Lasthenia glabrata
Lasthenia sect. Hologymne
yellow ray goldfields
erect, branched distally, glabrous or slightly hairy.
linear or subulate, 40–150 × 2–3+ mm, margins entire, faces glabrous.
entire (blades ± fleshy, bases sometimes connate and sheathing).
hemispheric, 5–10 mm.
hemispheric.
± conic, papillate, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
± conic, papillate or warty, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
7–15; (corollas yellow) laminae oblong, 4–14 mm.
yellow, laminae 4–14 mm, floral pigments remaining yellow in dilute aqueous alkali.
lobes 5;
anther appendages deltate or broadly ovate;
style apices deltate with apical tufts of hairs and subapical fringes of shorter hairs.
10–14, ± lanceolate (distinct tips ± deltate), glabrous but for apices.
persistent, connate 2/3+ their lengths (forming cups, glabrous but for distinct apices).
gray, clavate or obovoid, 2–3.5 mm, margins not ciliate, faces glabrous, or hairy and papillate (papillae rusty or yellowish, wartlike);
pappi 0.
2–3.5 mm;
epappose.
appendages deltate or broadly ovate.
= 14.
Lasthenia glabrata
Lasthenia sect. Hologymne
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Historically, aboriginal Californians used fruits and leaves of Lasthenia glabrata for food. The subspecies are allopatric and almost identical except for their cypselae.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 3 (3 in the flora).
Members of sect. Hologymne have a high salt tolerance and usually occur in moderately to strongly alkaline habitats, such as coastal salt marshes, around vernal pools, and in wet areas around alkali flats (i.e., hard-packed, poorly aerated, saline clays). The herbage of these plants also becomes succulent in response to increasing soil salinity as the soil dries up. All three species show a narrow range of morphologic characteristics except for their variable cypselae.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Cypselae glabrous, not papillate | subsp. glabrata |
1. Cypselae ± hairy and papillate | subsp. coulteri |
1. Cypselae black, strongly flattened, obovoid, margins ciliate (hairs stiff, blunt), faces glabrous or scabrous | L. chrysantha |
1. Cypselae black, ± flattened and obovate to oblong, or gray, ± clavate or obovoid, margins sometimes ciliate, faces glabrous or hairy (sometimes papillate) | → 2 |
2. Cypselae ± flattened and obovate to oblong, to 2.5 mm, faces ± hairy (hairs curved) and papillate | L. ferrisiae |
2. Cypselae ± clavate or obovoid, to 3.5 mm, faces glabrous or hairy and papillate (papil-lae rusty or yellowish, wartlike) | L. glabrata |
CA
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iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
