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James' nailwort, nailwort

Habit Plants perennial; caudex branched, woody.
Stems

erect to ascending, much-branched, 10–35 cm, scabrous, puberulent to pubescent, sometimes glabrous with age.

Leaves

stipules lanceolate, 5–15 mm, apex acuminate, entire;

blade linear, 7–25(–34) × 0.5–1 mm, leathery, apex obtuse to subacute or submucronate, pubescent to puberulent.

Flowers

5-merous, short-campanulate, with enlarged hypanthium and calyx widening somewhat distally, 1.8–2.8 mm, puberulent, glabrous to hirtellous distally;

sepals green to red-brown, veins absent, oblong, 1.3–1.8 mm, leathery to rigid, margins whitish to translucent, 0.05–0.1 mm wide, scarious, apex terminated by awn, broadly rounded, awn widely divergent, 0.4–0.8 mm, conic in proximal 1/2–2/3 with yellowish, scabrous spine;

staminodes filiform, 0.6–1 mm;

style 1, cleft in distal 1/3–1/6, 0.8–1.2 mm.

Cymes

terminal, 20–70-flowered, open, clusters 1–2 cm wide.

Utricles

ellipsoid-ovoid, 0.8–1 mm, smooth, glabrous.

Paronychia jamesii

Phenology Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Limestone rocky ledges, slopes, hilltops, grasslands
Elevation 500-2500 m (1600-8200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; KS; NE; NM; OK; TX; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

We agree with B. L. Turner (1983b) in not adopting the four varieties of Paronychia jamesii that Chaudhri recognized.

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

Source FNA vol. 5, p. 39.
Parent taxa Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia
Sibling taxa
P. ahartii, P. americana, P. argyrocoma, P. baldwinii, P. canadensis, P. chartacea, P. congesta, P. depressa, P. drummondii, P. echinulata, P. erecta, P. fastigiata, P. franciscana, P. herniarioides, P. jonesii, P. lindheimeri, P. maccartii, P. monticola, P. patula, P. pulvinata, P. rugelii, P. sessiliflora, P. setacea, P. virginica, P. wilkinsonii
Synonyms P. jamesii var. hirsuta, P. jamesii var. parviflora, P. jamesii var. praelongifolia
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 170. (1838)
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