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

Psilocarphus brevissimus

Psilocarphus elatior

dwarf woolly-heads, dwarf woolly-marbles, Robbin's pondweed, short woollyheads, woolly marbles

meadow woollyheads, tall woolly-heads, tall woolly-marbles
Habit Plants greenish to grayish, sericeous to densely lanuginose. Plants greenish gray to silvery, ± sericeous.
Stems

(1–)2–10, erect to prostrate;

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

1(–3), ± erect;

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

unlobed or ± lobed.

unlobed.
Heads

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

± spheric, largest 6–8 mm.
Cypselae

narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 0.8–1.9 mm.

± cylindric, terete, 0.9–1.7 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 ± erect, appressed to heads, mostly oblanceolate to nearly linear, widest in distal 1/3, longest mostly 17–35 mm, lengths mostly 4.5–9 times widths, 2.5–5 times head heights.
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 collectively ± hidden by indument, longest 2.8–3.8 mm (lengths 1.5–3 times longest diams.; wings supramedian).
Staminate

corollas 0.8–1.6 mm, lobes mostly 5.

corollas 1.3–1.9 mm, lobes 5.
2n

= 28.

Psilocarphus brevissimus

Psilocarphus elatior
Phenology Flowering and fruiting mid May–mid Aug.
Habitat Mainly coastal or montane, relatively dry or seasonally flooded, wooded, grassy, or barren slopes, flats, often disturbed sites (roadsides, trails, drainages), rarely near vernal pools
Elevation 0–1700 m (0–5600 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; ID; MT; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Psilocarphus elatior occurs west of the Cascade Range from California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and in scattered areas eastward (northwestern Montana, mountains surrounding the border area common to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho). Reports of P. elatior from Alberta and Saskatchewan were based on relatively erect forms of P. brevissimus var. brevissimus. Psilocarphus elatior has been of conservation concern in Canada (J. M. Illingworth and G. W. Douglas 1994).

Where sympatric, Psilocarphus elatior tends to inhabit relatively dry or seasonally flooded sites in more mesic coastal or montane climates and P. brevissimus var. brevissimus occurs mainly in wetter, seasonally inundated sites in semiarid climates. Some specimens appear to be intermediate; further study may show the two taxa to be better treated as varietally distinct. See also under P. brevissimus var. multiflorus.

(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
Sibling taxa
P. chilensis, P. elatior, P. oregonus, P. tenellus
P. brevissimus, P. chilensis, P. oregonus, P. tenellus
Subordinate taxa
P. brevissimus var. brevissimus, P. brevissimus var. multiflorus
Synonyms P. oregonus var. elatior
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 340. (1840) (A. Gray) A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. ed. 2, 1: 448. (1886)
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, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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