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prairie fameflower, rough-seed fameflower

Habit Plants to 2.5 dm; roots elongate, fleshily woody.
Stems

± erect, simple or sometimes branching.

Leaves

sessile;

blade terete, to 6 cm.

Inflorescences

cymose, much overtopping leaves;

peduncle scapelike, to 15 cm.

Flowers

sepals deciduous, ovate, 4 mm;

petals pink to magenta, ovate to obovate, sometimes mucronulate, 6.5–8 mm;

stamens 12–28;

stigmas 3, spreading widely, linear, 1/2–1/3 as long as styles.

Capsules

subglobose, 4 mm.

Seeds

without arcuate ridges, 1.2 mm, corrugate-rugulose overall.

2n

= 24.

Phemeranthus rugospermus

Phenology Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Sand or sandy soils, dunes, mounds, flats, banks, ridges, edges of igneous or metamorphic rock outcrops, along or near watercourses
Elevation 0-500 m (0-1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MN; NE; TX; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Within the overall area of its distribution, Phemeranthus rugospermus is nowhere abundant, its occurrence being everywhere spotty and localized. According to T. S. Cochrane (1993), the disjunctions probably reflect a history of long-distance dispersal from a center in the partially unglaciated Kansas and Nebraska sandhills, the present-day gaps resulting from a paucity of suitable habitats between that area and the others where it is now found. Even so, its discovery in Missouri, Arkansas, and/or Oklahoma would not be surprising.

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

Source FNA vol. 4, p. 494.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Phemeranthus
Sibling taxa
P. aurantiacus, P. brevicaulis, P. brevifolius, P. calcaricus, P. calycinus, P. humilis, P. longipes, P. marginatus, P. mengesii, P. parviflorus, P. sediformis, P. spinescens, P. teretifolius, P. thompsonii, P. validulus
Synonyms Talinum rugospermum
Name authority (Holzinger) Kiger: Novon 11: 320. (2001)
Web links