Flora of North America species comparison

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Schoenocaulon texanum

Texas feathershank
Bulbs

ellipsoid to plumply ovoid, 2–4.5 × 1.2–4 cm diam., usually arranged either in a circle or semicircle around a common rhizome, or one above the other on a vertical rhizome.
Leaves

5–8, 15–60 cm × 2–6 mm, shorter than raceme to just surpassing it, rarely longer.
Scape

13.5–55 cm.
Racemes

condensed, 30–250-flowered, 4–32 cm, flowers closely packed along axis.
Flowers

tepals linear to cuneate proximally and broadly subulate distally, 2.3–3.8 mm, fleshy, margins entire or rarely irregularly crenate;

auricles distinct or absent;

filaments subulate, 2 times tepal length.
Capsules

1–3-locular, ellipsoid to plumply ovoid, 0.8–1.9 cm × 5–12 mm.
Seeds

2–4(–8) per locule, 3–6.7 × 1.6–2.2 mm.
2n

= 16.

Schoenocaulon texanum
Phenology Flowering spring–early summer, sometimes later following unseasonable rainfall.
Habitat Occasional in dry, rocky, limestone soils in chaparrals, usually growing under scrubby vegetation
Elevation 0–2200 m (0–7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosí)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The morphology of Schoenocaulon texanum is peculiarly dependent upon annual rainfall. Plants of small stature but average bulb size can be readily distinguished as the products of one or several seasons of lower than normal rainfall. The hallmarks of such plants are congested racemes, few flowers, these often appearing withered and brown, and ovaries that do not mature or have perhaps only one small locule ripening to produce a few seeds.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 81.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Schoenocaulon
Sibling taxa
S. dubium, S. ghiesbreghtii
Name authority Scheele: Linnaea 25: 262. (1852)
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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