Flora of North America species comparison

inconspicuous, slender or stout, unbranched or few-branched.

usually conspicuous (often forming a globular mass), very slender, usually branched.

relatively few, loosely imbricate or more remote, loosely ascending to spreading;

blade oblong-lanceolate to awl-shaped, 2–10 mm, margins entire, often inrolled, apex acuminate, surfaces glabrous.

several to numerous, loosely ascending to spreading, imbricate only near stem base;

blade lanceolate to oblong-ovate or triangular-ovate, 6–20 mm, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces moderately to densely glandular-pubescent.

of solitary flowers or fascicles of 2(–4) at stem or branch tips, white to cream, sometimes purple tinged, simple, glabrous;

bracts loosely ascending and erect, oblanceolate to broadly ovate, obovate, rhombic, or awl-shaped, 5–12 mm, apex acute to acuminate, glabrous, rarely glandular-pubescent distally.

spikes, reddish brown to purple or yellow, simple, sparsely to densely glandular-pubescent;

flowers numerous, axis visible between flowers;

bracts slightly reflexed, narrowly lanceolate, 6–17 mm, apex attenuate, glandular-pubescent.

(8–)20–110(–170) mm, much longer than plant axis;

bracteoles 0.

0–0.8 mm (rarely to 30 mm in proximalmost flowers);

bracteoles 0.

calyx white to straw colored or light yellow, or pale to dark, dull purple, sometimes brownish, ± radially symmetric, 4–12(–15) mm, divided into 5 subequal lobes, lobes slightly shorter than to 2 times as long as tube, ± triangular or subulate-triangular, sparsely to moderately glandular-pubescent;

corolla (11–)15–30(–35) mm, tube white to purple, blue, or yellow, sometimes lighter proximally or with light or darker purple or blue veins, slightly to moderately constricted above ovary, ± bent forward, glandular-pubescent;

palatal folds ± prominent, bright yellow, glandular- and/or eglandular-pubescent, sometimes glabrescent;

lips white, yellow, purple, or blue, sometimes with light or darker purple or blue veins, abaxial lip slightly to moderately spreading, sometimes ± recurved distally, (1–)2–6(–9) mm, lobes oblong-obovate to nearly round, apex rounded to bluntly pointed or shallowly emarginate (sometimes with 2 notches), adaxial lip slightly to moderately spreading, sometimes recurved, 2–6(–9) mm, lobes broadly oblong-ovate to oblong-semiorbiculate, apex rounded, rarely bluntly pointed or shallowly emarginate;

filaments glabrous, anthers included, glabrous or villous-tomentose.

calyx yellow or brownish red to brownish purple, strongly bilaterally symmetric, (6–)8–12 mm, deeply divided into 2 lateral lobes (rarely with an additional vestigial abaxial lobe), lobes entire or asymmetrically divided into 2 teeth or short lobes, these much shorter than tube, lanceolate to subulate-attenuate, ± glandular-villous;

corolla 10–19 mm, tube white to pale yellow, not or only slightly constricted above ovary, ± curved, glandular-puberulent;

palatal folds prominent, yellow to nearly white, usually glabrous;

lips similar in color to tube, more commonly purplish tinged and/or veined, sometimes more strongly so externally, abaxial lip spreading abruptly from base, 3–4 mm, lobes broadly ovate to ± semiorbiculate (this sometimes difficult to observe because of the crinkled, erose-crenulate margins and overlapping sinuses), apex rounded or shallowly emarginate, adaxial lip erect or curved outward at tip, 3–5 mm, lobes shallow, ± semiorbiculate, apex broadly rounded;

filaments sparsely pubescent, distal hairs gland-tipped, anthers included, glabrous or tomentulose.

ovoid to oblong-ovoid, 4–8(–11) mm.

ovoid to oblong-ovoid, 5–9 mm.

0.1–0.4 mm.

0.2–0.4 mm.

= 38.