Phemeranthus rugospermus |
Phemeranthus parviflorus |
|
---|---|---|
prairie fameflower, rough-seed fameflower |
sunbright |
|
Habit | Plants to 2.5 dm; roots elongate, fleshily woody. | Plants to 2 dm; roots elongate, fleshily woody. |
Stems | ± erect, simple or sometimes branching. |
± erect, simple or branching, sometimes suffrutescent. |
Leaves | sessile; blade terete, to 6 cm. |
sessile; blade terete, sometimes slightly broadened at base, to 5 cm. |
Inflorescences | cymose, much overtopping leaves; peduncle scapelike, to 15 cm. |
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. |
usually pedicellate, sometimes sessile or subsessile; sepals deciduous or sometimes persistent, ovate, to 4.5 mm, apex sometimes purplish, acuminate-cornate, thickened; petals light pink to purplish, elliptic to obovate, to 7 mm; stamens (4–)5(–6); stigma 1, subcapitate, sometimes stigmas 3-lobed, or 3, triangular. |
Capsules | subglobose, 4 mm. |
ellipsoid or sometimes ovoid, sometimes obtusely trigonous, 3–5 mm. |
Seeds | without arcuate ridges, 1.2 mm, corrugate-rugulose overall. |
without arcuate ridges, 0.8–1 mm. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24, 48. |
Phemeranthus rugospermus |
Phemeranthus parviflorus |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Aug. | Flowering Apr–Sep. |
Habitat | Sand or sandy soils, dunes, mounds, flats, banks, ridges, edges of igneous or metamorphic rock outcrops, along or near watercourses | Dry woodland, grassland, chaparral, scrub, canyon washes, mountain slopes and ledges, sandy, usually rocky soil, outcrops |
Elevation | 0-500 m (0-1600 ft) | 0-2700 m (0-8900 ft) |
Distribution |
IA; IL; IN; KS; LA; MN; NE; TX; WI
|
AL; AR; AZ; CO; IA; IL; KS; LA; MN; MO; ND; NE; NM; OK; SD; TX; UT; WY; n Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila)
|
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.) |
Over its extensive range, Phemeranthus parviflorus varies considerably in several characters, including overall size. Although this variation is more or less continuous, correlating very generally with habitat type and geographic location, some populations that are found toward the limits of the species’ range and that exhibit combinations of tendencies to extremes in the variable characters have been recognized separately. The Alabama populations, few and confined to a very small area on gneiss in the central part of the state, disjunct from the main trans-Mississippi distribution of P. parviflorus, with elongate stems, small flowers, and stigmas often three-lobed, or three instead of one, have been described as Talinum appalachianum. Plants from Arizona with stems slender and tending to elongate, sepals acuminate-cornate and usually purplish, and capsules ovoid have been described as T. gooddingii. Plants from the mountains of New Mexico with elongate stems, subsessile flowers, markedly congested cymes, and acuminate, often persistent sepals have been described as T. confertiflorum (P. confertiflorus). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 4, p. 494. | FNA vol. 4, p. 493. |
Parent taxa | Portulacaceae > Phemeranthus | Portulacaceae > Phemeranthus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Talinum rugospermum | Talinum parviflorum, P. confertiflorus, Talinum appalachianum, Talinum confertiflorum, Talinum fallax, Talinum gooddingii |
Name authority | (Holzinger) Kiger: Novon 11: 320. (2001) | (Nuttall) Kiger: Novon 11: 320. (2001) |
Web links |