Paronychia pulvinata |
Paronychia ahartii |
|
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Rocky Mountain nailwort |
Ahart's nailwort, Ahart's paronychia |
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Habit | Plants perennial, densely cespitose, cushion-forming; caudex much-branched, woody. | Plants annual; taproot filiform to stout. |
Stems | prostrate, much-branched, 5–10 cm, puberulent. |
erect, tightly branched, 0.5–1.2 cm, glabrous. |
Leaves | stipules ovate, 3–6 mm, apex subobtuse, entire; blade narrowly elliptic-oblong or oblong to narrowly elliptic-oblanceolate, 2–5 × 0.2–1.8(–2) mm, fleshy, apex obtuse to subacute, glabrous. |
stipules broadly ovate, 3–6 mm, apex acute to acuminate, entire; blade linear to oblanceolate, 2.5–7.5 × 0.5–1.2 mm, leathery, apex spinulose, glabrous. |
Inflorescences | flowers axillary, solitary. |
|
Flowers | mostly solitary at end of shoots, almost concealed by leaves.; flowers 5-merous, elliptic-oblong, with enlarged hypanthium and calyx straight to tapering distally, 2.5–2.8 mm, densely appressed-puberulent, sparsely so distally; sepals whitish to green, veins absent, narrowly oblong to ovate-oblong, 1.5–1.7 mm, papery to herbaceous, margins white, 0.2–0.3 mm wide, papery, apex with subterminal awn, hood ascending as continuation of sepal, broadly rounded to notched, awn erect, white, 0.3–0.6(–1) mm, ± glabrous spine; staminodes filiform, 0.7–0.9 mm; style 1, cleft in distal 1/3, 0.8–1 mm. |
5-merous, cylindric, with enlarged hypanthium and calyx cylindric to somewhat tapering distally, 4.2–5 mm, moderately hairy in proximal 1/2 with hooked to coiled hairs; sepals green to tan, veins absent, lanceolate to elliptic, 3.5–4.5 mm, margins translucent, 0.7–1+ mm wide, scarious (resembling stipules), apex (of herbaceous midrib) terminated by awn, hood apparently consisting of prominent, erect, scarious extension of margins split at apex, awn ± spreading, 1.5–2 mm, oblong extension of midrib in proximal 1/4, with white, wavy, threadlike spine; staminodes filiform, ca. 1 mm; style 1, cleft in distal 3/4, ca. 0.5 mm. |
Utricles | ovoid, 1.3–1.5 mm, smooth, glabrous. |
ovoid, ca. 1.3 mm, papillose distally. |
2n | = 32. |
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Paronychia pulvinata |
Paronychia ahartii |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Rocky slopes and summit screes in alpine regions | Well-drained rocky outcrops, vernal pool edges, volcanic uplands |
Elevation | 3300-4200 m (10800-13800 ft) | 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) |
Distribution |
CO; UT; WY
|
CA |
Discussion | Of conservation concern. Paronychia ahartii, first collected in 1938, is known from three counties in north-central California. It most closely resembles P. arabica (Linnaeus) de Candolle, a species of northern African and Arabian deserts. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 5, p. 40. | FNA vol. 5, p. 33. |
Parent taxa | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia | Caryophyllaceae > subfam. Paronychioideae > Paronychia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. pulvinata var. longiaristata | |
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 15: 58. (1864) | Ertter: Madroño 32: 87, fig. 1. (1985) |
Web links |