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 tenellus

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

slender woolly-heads, slender woolly-marbles
Habit Plants greenish to grayish, sericeous to densely lanuginose. Plants greenish to grayish, arachnoid to ± sericeous.
Stems

(1–)2–10, erect to prostrate;

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

(1–)2–10, ascending to ± prostrate;

proximal internode lengths mostly 1–2(–3) times leaf lengths.
Receptacles

unlobed or ± lobed.

unlobed.
Heads

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

± spheric, largest 3–5.5 mm.
Cypselae

narrowly obovoid, ± compressed, 0.8–1.9 mm.

narrowly obovoid, somewhat compressed, 0.7–1.2 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 ± spreading, mostly not appressed to heads, spatulate to obovate, widest in distal 1/3, longest 6–15 mm, lengths mostly 2–5 times widths, 1.5–2.5(–3) 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 individually visible through indument, longest mostly 1.5–2.7 mm.
Staminate

corollas 0.8–1.6 mm, lobes mostly 5.

corollas 0.8–1.5 mm, lobes mostly 5.
2n

= 28.

Psilocarphus brevissimus

Psilocarphus tenellus
Phenology Flowering and fruiting late Mar–early Aug.
Habitat Dry or seasonally moist, barren to wooded slopes, flats, often disturbed sites (foot paths, road beds, burns), sometimes near vernal pools toward s
Elevation 0–2100 m (0–6900 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; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Psilocarphus tenellus is relatively common in the Californian Floristic Province from northwestern Baja California to southwestern Oregon; northward it is scattered to northern Idaho and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It has been of conservation concern in Canada (J. M. Illingworth and G. W. Douglas 1994b).

(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. 459.
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. elatior, P. oregonus
Subordinate taxa
P. brevissimus var. brevissimus, P. brevissimus var. multiflorus
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 340. (1840) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 341. (1840)
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