Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Phemeranthus teretifolius

Phemeranthus calcaricus

quill fameflower, rock-portulaca

limestone fameflower
Habit Plants to 5 dm; roots elongate, fleshy. Plants to 2.5 dm; roots tuberous, fleshy.
Stems

± erect, simple or sometimes branching.

ascending to erect, sometimes branching, ± tufted.
Leaves

sessile;

blade terete, to 6 cm.

sessile;

blade terete, to 5 cm.
Inflorescences

cymose, over-topping leaves;

peduncle scapelike, to 25 cm.

cymose, overtopping leaves;

peduncle scapelike, to 15 cm.
Flowers

sepals deciduous, elliptic to ovate, 3–4 mm;

petals rose-purple, obovate, 5–7 mm;

stamens 12–20;

stigma 1, subcapitate or sometimes indistinctly 3-lobed.

sepals persistent, ovate, 3–4 mm;

petals rose-purple, elliptic to obovate, 8–10 mm;

stamens 25–45;

stigma 1, distinctly 3-lobed.
Capsules

subglobose, 4–5 mm.

ovoid to obovoid, 4–6 mm.
Seeds

without arcuate ridges, 0.8–1 mm.

without arcuate ridges, 1.2 mm.
2n

= 48.

= 48.

Phemeranthus teretifolius

Phemeranthus calcaricus
Phenology Flowering Apr–Oct. Flowering May–Sep.
Habitat Thin, rocky or sandy soil, usually on or near edges of sandstone, granitic, and serpentine outcrops Cedar glades in shallow soil on limestone outcrops
Elevation 200-1000 m (700-3300 ft) 100-400 m (300-1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; MD; NC; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; KY; TN
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Phemeranthus teretifolius is an allopolyploid derived from P. parviflorus and P. mengesii, both of which it evidently outcompetes within its southern Appalachian range (M. E. B. Carter and W. H. Murdy 1985; W. H. Murdy and M. E. B. Carter 1985, 2001).

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

A recent study strongly suggests that Phemeranthus calcaricus is a derivative of autotetraploid P. calycinus (W. H. Murdy and M. E. B. Carter 2001). Congruent with that hypothesis, one collection from a glade in Izard County, Arkansas (B. L. Lipscomb 1577, NCU), which is within the range of P. calycinus, appears to belong to P. calcaricus, which is known otherwise only from well east of the Mississippi River and outside the range of P. calycinus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 4, p. 495. FNA vol. 4, p. 492.
Parent taxa Portulacaceae > Phemeranthus 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. rugospermus, P. sediformis, P. spinescens, P. thompsonii, P. validulus
P. aurantiacus, P. brevicaulis, P. brevifolius, P. calycinus, P. humilis, P. longipes, P. marginatus, P. mengesii, P. parviflorus, P. rugospermus, P. sediformis, P. spinescens, P. teretifolius, P. thompsonii, P. validulus
Synonyms Talinum teretifolium, Claytonia teretifolia, Talinum ciliatum Talinum calcaricum
Name authority (Pursh) Rafinesque: Specchio Sci. 1: 86. (1814) (S. Ware) Kiger: Novon 11: 320. (2001)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers