Sairocarpus vexillocalyculatus
Sairocarpus
wiry snapdragon
snapdragon
7–170 cm, not self-supporting, glabrous, eglandular-hairy, or glandular-hairy;
branches twining.
erect [ascending or sprawling], filiform, twining branches often present, glabrous, hairy, or glandular-hairy.
opposite proximally, alternate distally;
blade ovate to narrowly elliptic, 10–60 × 1–20 mm, surfaces glabrous or hairy.
cauline, sometimes basal, opposite or alternate proximally, alternate distally;
petiole present or absent;
blade linear to oblanceolate, not fleshy, not leathery, margins entire.
axillary, racemes or flowers solitary.
terminal or axillary, racemes or flowers solitary;
bracts present or absent.
1–4 mm.
1–25(–30) mm;
bracteoles absent.
cleistogamous and chasmogamous;
calyx lobes unequal, glandular-hairy, adaxial lobe 3.5–14 × 1–9 mm;
corolla light purple to white, often dark-veined, 8–17 mm, base gibbous, mouth 2–4 mm diam., palate sometimes purple-veined, convex, 3.5–8 mm diam., puberulent.
bisexual, cleistogamous or chasmogamous;
sepals 5, basally connate, calyx bilaterally symmetric, tubular or cupulate, lobes ovate to lanceolate, shorter or as long as corolla tube in flower, adaxial largest, glabrous or hairy to glandular-hairy;
corolla white to purple, pink, red, or tan, bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate and personate, tubular, 5.5–18 mm, tube base usually gibbous, not spurred (not gibbous, spurred in S. cornutus), lobes 5, abaxial 3, adaxial 2;
stamens 4, basally adnate to corolla, didynamous, filaments glabrous or glandular-hairy, pollen sacs 2 per filament;
staminode 0;
ovary 2-locular, placentation axile;
stigma punctiform.
capsules, 2.5–11 mm, locules unequal, dehiscence poricidal.
ovoid, 4–8 mm, glandular-hairy, abaxial locule with 1 pore.
dark brown to black, 0.7–1.5 mm, tuberculate, reticulate-ridged.
5–40, brown to black, ovoid to oblong, wings absent.
= 8.
= 30.
Sairocarpus vexillocalyculatus
Sairocarpus
Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).
Subspecies breweri and vexillocalyculatus intergrade where their distributions overlap in the coastal ranges of California. Subspecies intermedius is disjunct in the Sierra Nevada.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Species 12 (9 in the flora).
Sairocarpus is sometimes treated as a subgenus of Antirrhinum (D. M. Thompson 1988; M. Wetherwax and Thompson 2012). For a discussion of the generic segregates, see 2. Antirrhinum.
Sairocarpus is a New World genus distinguished from the Old World Antirrhinum by its smaller flowers, disjunct distribution, and base chromosome number x = 8 following R. K. Oyama and D. A. Baum (2004) and P. Vargas et al. (2004). Additional study of generic limits may be warranted since more complete ITS sampling, including all Sairocarpus species in the flora area (M. Fernández-Mazuecos et al. 2013), revealed that Sairocarpus is polyphyletic if Gambelia, Howelliella, Mohavea, and Neogaerrhinum are recognized. Other New World-only segregates of Antirrhinum are Gambelia, Howelliella, Mohavea, Neogaerrhinum, and Pseudorontium; they can be distinguished from Sairocarpus by their fruits with equal locules. Plants of Mohavea and Pseudorontium also have distinctive, winged seeds.
Some species of Sairocarpus have filiform, twining branches, usually on the distal parts of the stems. These branches wrap around nearby objects giving additional support to these weak-stemmed plants.
Cleistogamous and chasmogamous flowers are produced in some species of Sairocarpus. The cleistogamous flowers usually form early in the season and are smaller and paler than the chasmogamous flowers. In species with twining branches, cleistogamous flowers are usually borne close to the main stem. Fruits from cleistogamous flowers are usually smaller and have fewer seeds than those from chasmogamous flowers. Only chasmogamous flowers are described below.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stems proximally glabrous or eglandular-hairy; corollas 11–17 mm, adaxial lips 7–17 mm. | subsp. vexillocalyculatus |
1. Stems proximally glandular-hairy and, sometimes, eglandular-hairy; corollas 8–15 mm, adaxial lips 2–5.5 mm. | → 2 |
2. Inflorescence branches with 1 leaf at each proximal node. | subsp. breweri |
2. Inflorescence branches with 2 leaves at each proximal node. | subsp. intermedius |
1. Calyx lobes unequal. | → 2 |
2. Stems viscid; branches not twining; plants annuals or perennials; corollas pale pink to red. | S. multiflorus |
2. Stems not viscid; branches twining; plants annuals; corollas white to tan or light purple. | → 3 |
3. Corollas 5.5–7 mm; leaf blades elliptic to linear. | S. kingii |
3. Corollas 8–17 mm; leaf blades ovate to narrowly elliptic. | → 4 |
4. Corollas white to tan, not veined; stems hairy. | S. subcordatus |
4. Corollas light purple to white, often dark-veined; stems glabrous or glandular-hairy. | S. vexillocalyculatus |
1. Calyx lobes equal to subequal. | → 5 |
5. Stems glandular-hairy. | → 6 |
6. Leaf blades linear to oblanceolate; stems self-supporting; branches not twining; capsules: abaxial locules indehiscent or with 1 pore. | S. cornutus |
6. Leaf blades ovate; stems not self-supporting; branches twining; capsules: abaxial locules with 1 pore. | S. nuttallianus |
5. Stems glabrous, or basally hairy and otherwise glabrous. | → 7 |
7. Branches not twining; capsules: abaxial locules with 2 pores; plants perennials; corollas pink to pale pink. | S. virga |
7. Branches twining; capsules: abaxial locules indehiscent or with 1 pore; plants annuals; corollas white to light purple. | → 8 |
8. Inflorescences racemes; pedicels 1–5 mm; corolla palates purple-spotted. | S. coulterianus |
8. Inflorescences flowers solitary; pedicels 4–25(–30) mm; corolla palates purple-veined. | S. watsonii |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
