Flora of North America species comparison

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Psilocarphus oregonus

Psilocarphus chilensis

Oregon woolly marbles, Oregon woolly-heads, Oregon woollyheads or woolly marbles, woolly marbles

round woolly-marbles, slender woollyheads
Habit Plants silvery to whitish, densely sericeous to somewhat lanuginose. Plants mostly greenish, thinly arachnoid-sericeous (in coastal forms grayish to whitish, ± lanuginose).
Stems

(1–)2–10, ascending to ± prostrate;

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

mostly (1–)2–7, ascending to ± prostrate;

proximal internode lengths (2–)3–6 times leaf lengths.
Receptacles

unlobed.

unlobed.
Heads

± spheric, largest 4–6 mm.

± spheric, largest 3–5.5 mm.
Cypselae

narrowly ± cylindric, terete, 0.6–1.2 mm.

narrowly obovoid, somewhat compressed, 0.6–1.2 mm.
Capitular

leaves ± erect, appressed to heads, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, widest in distal 2/3, longest 12–20 mm, lengths mostly 6–12 times widths, (3–)3.5–5 times head heights.

leaves erect to incurved, appressed to heads, ovate to broadly elliptic, widest in proximal 2/3, longest 5–12 mm, lengths mostly 1.2–1.8(–2) times widths, 1–2(–2.5) times head heights.
Pistillate

paleae individually visible through indument, longest mostly 1.5–2.7 mm.

paleae usually individually visible through indument, longest mostly 1.5–2.7 mm.
Staminate

corollas 0.7–1.4 mm, lobes mostly 4.

corollas 0.8–1.3 mm, lobes mostly 4.

Psilocarphus oregonus

Psilocarphus chilensis
Phenology Flowering and fruiting late Mar–mid Aug. Flowering and fruiting mid Mar–early Jul.
Habitat Seasonally inundated or flooded clay soils (vernal pool margins, drainages, moist rocky slopes) Saturated to drying vernal pool margins, seasonally inundated sites, coastal interdune areas
Elevation 10–1800(–2400) m (0–5900(–7900) ft) 0–600 m (0–2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; South America (Chile)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Psilocarphus oregonus occurs from west-central California through most of Oregon to southeastern Washington, western Idaho, and northern Nevada. Relatively narrow-leaved, montane forms of P. tenellus account for reports of P. oregonus from the southern Sierra Nevada to Baja California; further study may show these to be intermediates between the two taxa.

A malformed plant collected in Merced County, California, appears to have been a sterile hybrid between P. oregonus and Hesperevax caulescens (J. D. Morefield 1992c).

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

Psilocarphus chilensis occurs mainly in west-central California and central Chile; one recent collection is from southern California (western Riverside County). Ecotypes from coastal interdune areas are more lanuginose with shorter stems and internodes than intergrading populations farther inland; they are indistinguishable from the type of Micropus globiferus from Chile (J. D. Morefield 1992d). Psilocarphus chilensis and P. tenellus are at least as distinct as the other species of Psilocarphus; contrary to suggestions by A. Cronquist (1950), intermediates between the two are at most very uncommon.

Psilocarphus berteri I. M. Johnston is a superfluous name for P. chilensis. I. M. Johnston (1938) erroneously applied P. chilensis to a species not including the type of Micropus globiferus; such plants are here included in P. brevissimus var. brevissimus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 459. FNA vol. 19, p. 459.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Psilocarphus Asteraceae > tribe Gnaphalieae > Psilocarphus
Sibling taxa
P. brevissimus, P. chilensis, P. elatior, P. tenellus
P. brevissimus, P. elatior, P. oregonus, P. tenellus
Synonyms Micropus globiferus, P. tenellus var. globiferus, P. tenellus var. tenuis
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 341. (1840) 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).



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