Flora of North America species comparison

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Psilocarphus brevissimus

Psilocarphus brevissimus var. multiflorus

dwarf woolly-heads, dwarf woolly-marbles, Robbin's pondweed, short woollyheads, woolly marbles
Photo is of parent taxon

delta woolly-marbles, dwarf woollyheads
Habit Plants greenish to grayish, sericeous to densely lanuginose. Plants ± thinly arachnoid-sericeous.
Stems

(1–)2–10, erect to prostrate;

proximal internode lengths mostly 0.5–1.5(–2) times leaf lengths.

usually 1, erect.
Receptacles

unlobed or ± lobed.

deeply lobed.
Heads

± spheric, rarely ovoid, largest 6–14 mm.

ovoid, largest 9–14 mm, ± sericeous.
Cypselae

narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 0.8–1.9 mm.

Capitular

leaves ± erect, appressed to heads (sometimes spreading), linear-lanceolate to ovate, widest in proximal 2/3, longest 8–25 mm, lengths mostly 1.5–6 times widths, 1–2.5(–3) times head heights.

leaves: longest mostly 14–25 mm, lengths 3–6 times widths.
Pistillate

paleae hidden by or visible through indument, longest 2.8–4 mm (lengths 1.5–6 times longest diams.; wings subapical to ± median).

paleae ± cylindric, lengths mostly 3.5–6 times longest diams.;

wings ± median.
Staminate

corollas 0.8–1.6 mm, lobes mostly 5.

2n

= 28.

Psilocarphus brevissimus

Psilocarphus brevissimus var. multiflorus
Phenology Flowering and fruiting May–mid Jun.
Habitat Drying margins of vernal pools, seasonally moist flats
Elevation 10–100(–500) m (0–300(–1600) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK; s South America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Variety multiflorus is known from the San Francisco Bay area and adjacent Central Valley delta and may soon warrant conservation concern. Its deeply lobed receptacles, each lobe bearing a set of staminate florets, appear to represent fusion of multiple heads into second-order heads (A. Cronquist 1950). Less fusion occurs in plants intermediate with var. brevissimus.

Variety multiflorus shares traits with Psilocarphus elatior. An Idaho specimen from within the range of P. elatior was cited (but not mapped) as P. brevissimus var. multiflorus by A. Cronquist (1950); it was probably either mislabeled or from an introduction that did not persist.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Heads ± spheric, largest 6–9 mm, receptacles unlobed or shallowly lobed; pistillate paleae obovoid, lengths 1.5–3 times longest diams., wings supramedian to subapical
var. brevissimus
1. Heads ovoid, largest 9–14 mm, receptacles deeply lobed; pistillate paleae ± cylindric, lengths mostly 3.5–6 times longest diams., wings ± median
var. multiflorus
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 458. FNA vol. 19, p. 458.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Psilocarphus Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Psilocarphus > Psilocarphus brevissimus
Sibling taxa
P. chilensis, P. elatior, P. oregonus, P. tenellus
P. brevissimus var. brevissimus
Subordinate taxa
P. brevissimus var. brevissimus, P. brevissimus var. multiflorus
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 340. (1840) Cronquist: Res. Stud. State Coll. Wash. 18: 80. (1950)
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).



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