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

annual burnet, western burnet

Habit Plants winter-annual, glabrous; taproots 3–10 dm.
Stamens

2(or 4).

Fruits

hypanthia ridges rounded, thickened;

sepals not thickened proximally.

Poteridium occidentale

Phenology Flowering May–Jul; fruiting Jun–Aug.
Habitat Prairies, sandy open ground, sagebrush flats, vernal pools, drawdown shorelines of streams and lakes, grassy clearings, roadsides, particularly with surficial or subterranean moisture
Elevation 10–2100 m (0–6900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; WA; WY; BC
Discussion

The taxonomic status of Poteridium occidentale has been controversial. Most floristicians of the twentieth century accepted it as distinct from the more eastern P. annuum (usually treating the two in Sanguisorba); but in recent decades a trend developed to merge the two taxa. While superficially similar, they seem to represent independent evolutionary lineages, as indicated by morphologic distinctions and allopatric distributions.

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

Source FNA vol. 9, p. 320.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Agrimonieae > Poteridium
Sibling taxa
P. annuum
Synonyms Sanguisorba occidentalis
Name authority (Nuttall) Rydberg: in N. L. Britton et al., N. Amer. Fl. 22: 388. (1908)
Web links