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Bolander's woodland-star, hillstar

pink woodland star, prairie star, small-flower fringecup, small-flower prairie star, small-flower woodland-star

Habit Plants usually robust. Plants slender.
Flowering stems

branched, (rarely bearing bulbils in place of flowers), 25–85 cm.

simple, 20–50 cm.

Leaves

in basal rosette and cauline, basal unlobed or 3–5-lobed, never deeply lobed, cauline (2–3+), alternate, often 3–4-lobed, much reduced, similar to basal, (rarely with axillary bulbils);

stipules small, not decurrent on petiole, (margins fimbriate);

petiole usually to 25 cm;

blade green, orbiculate, surfaces hairy.

in basal rosette and cauline, basal mostly 3-lobed, cauline (2–3), 3-foliolate, reduced, similar to basal (except lobes longer);

stipules large, decurrent on petiole base, (margins fimbriate);

petiole to 6 cm;

blade dark green, orbiculate, (base cuneate), surfaces nearly glabrous or sparsely to densely hairy.

Inflorescences

1–3, erect, 3–5(–25)-flowered racemes, 2(–3)-branched, (10–85 cm).

2–3, nodding, 4–14-flowered racemes, simple.

Pedicels

equaling or shorter than hypanthium, (flowers long-pedicellate).

equaling or shorter than hypanthium.

Flowers

persistent, fragrant, horizontal;

hypanthium narrowly campanulate with obtuse base, usually not elongating in fruit, throat open, (length 2 times diam.);

sepals erect in bud, widely spreading after anthesis, triangular;

petals (completely exserted), widely spreading, white, ovate-elliptic, narrowly clawed, usually unlobed with serrations at base, sometimes 3–5-lobed, 4–7 mm, ultimate margins entire;

ovary to 1/2 inferior;

styles slightly exerted in fruit;

stigma papillae apical.

deciduous if unfertilized, not fragrant, horizontal;

hypanthium obconic-elongate at anthesis, becoming very elongate in fruit, open at throat, (length 2 times diam.);

sepals erect, triangular;

petals (exserted), widely spreading, white or pink, often with prominent venation, obovate-rhombic, narrowly clawed, deeply 3-lobed, (usually with prominent sinuses extending 1/2+ to base), 7–16 mm, ultimate margins entire;

ovary 1/2+ inferior;

styles included in fruit;

stigma papillae in narrow subapical band.

Seeds

0.3–5 mm, tuberculate (tubercles in 3–19 rows, spinelike).

0.5–0.6 mm, wrinkled or smooth.

2n

= 14, 28, 35, 42.

= 14, 21, 28, 35.

Lithophragma bolanderi

Lithophragma parviflorum

Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering Mar–Aug.
Habitat Well-drained, open, grassy areas of oak or coniferous-oak woodland Coastal bluffs, gravel prairies and rocky meadows, open forests, shrublands, and grasslands, subalpine regions, commonly with Lithophragma glabrum and L. tenellum
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft) 200-3100 m (700-10200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NE; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lithophragma bolanderi is known from California along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada from Shasta County to the San Gabriel Mountains and the north-central inner coastal mountains around San Francisco Bay north to Mendocino County.

Variable vegetative features, such as petal shape, size of seeds, and general growth habit, are the result of environmental factors and gene interchange among species. Lithophragma bolanderi is best distinguished from L. heterophyllum by the shape of the hypanthium base, position of styles and stigmas in fruit, length of seed tubercles, and general outline of the petals.

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

Lithophragma parviflorum is easily identified throughout its range, although morphological variation is apparent when comparing specimens from different habitats and elevations in western North America. Some authors treat L. trifoliatum as a variety of L. parviflorum.

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

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 82. FNA vol. 8, p. 80.
Parent taxa Saxifragaceae > Lithophragma Saxifragaceae > Lithophragma
Sibling taxa
L. affine, L. campanulatum, L. cymbalaria, L. glabrum, L. heterophyllum, L. maximum, L. parviflorum, L. tenellum, L. trifoliatum
L. affine, L. bolanderi, L. campanulatum, L. cymbalaria, L. glabrum, L. heterophyllum, L. maximum, L. tenellum, L. trifoliatum
Synonyms L. heterophyllum var. bolanderi, L. heterophyllum var. scabrellum, L. scabrellum, L. scabrellum var. peirsonii, Tellima heterophylla var. bolanderi, Tellima scabrella Tellima parviflora, L. anemonoides, L. austromontanum, Pleurendotria reniformis
Name authority A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 6: 535. 1865 , (Hooker) Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 584. 1840 (as parviflora) ,
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