Sidalcea asprella |
Sidalcea hendersonii |
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dwarf checkerbloom, harsh checker mallow, harsh checkerbloom |
Henderson's checker-mallow, Henderson's checkerbloom |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.1–1(–1.2) m, infrequently ± glaucous, with caudex or not, usually with freely-rooting fibrous rootstocks or rhizomes (5–)10–30 cm × 2–4 mm, matted or not. | Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1.5 m, not glaucous, sparsely hairy to nearly glabrous throughout, with woody taproot and short, thick, ascending rootstock, usually also with compact rhizomes to 10 mm diam. | ||||
Stems | usually single, erect and sometimes supported by adjacent plants (sprawling), base prostrate or decumbent-ascending to erect, often rooting, solid, not brittle, sometimes ± glaucous distally, proximally stellate-hairy, glabrate, hairs minute or larger and coarse (never simple only), usually 4-rayed, 0.5–1 mm. |
usually several, clustered, erect, usually purplish tinted especially near base, mostly unbranched, sometimes proximally hollow, base glabrous or sparsely hairy, hairs minute, simple or stellate, more densely scabrous distally. |
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Leaves | basal and/or cauline, similar in size and shape; stipules linear to lanceolate, 2–3 × 1.1 mm; petiole (1–)5–10(–15) cm, longest on proximal leaves, 1–4 times longer on proximal leaves to 1/2 times to as long as blade on distal leaves; blade usually shallowly to deeply palmately 3–7-lobed usually halfway to base, proximal and distal cauline blades rounded to reniform, 2–3 × 2–5 cm, usually wider than long, base cordate to truncate, margins crenate, apex blunt or rounded, lobes narrowest at base, margins usually apically coarsely toothed, rarely entire, surfaces stellate-puberulent. |
basal and cauline, ± fleshy; stipules deciduous, often purplish, lanceolate to linear, 6–11 × 1–3 mm; petiole often purplish tinted, those of basal leaves to 30 cm, proximalmost 3 times as long as blades, mid cauline 1–2 times as long as blades, distalmost to 1/2 times as long as blades and leaves subsessile; basal blades orbiculate, unlobed or shallowly 5-lobed, 7–15 × 7–15 cm, margins crenate or dentate, ciliate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hirsute, hairs sometimes forked, not stellate, mid cauline palmately 7–9-lobed, incised 1/2+ length, 7–12(–17) × 7–12(–17) cm, lobes cuneate, margins coarsely dentate to pinnatifid, apex toothed, surfaces: adaxial sparsely hairy or only on veins, ciliate, distal cauline leaves 3–5-parted nearly to base, lobes narrowly lanceolate to linear, margins coarsely dentate-laciniate. |
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Inflorescences | ascending or erect, often spiciform, open, calyces not overlapping in flower or fruit, unbranched or branched, 2–15(–30)-flowered, elongate in both flower and fruit, usually 1-sided, 6–11(–30) cm; bracts leaflike to linear, usually 2-fid, (2–)3–5(–15) mm. |
erect, spiciform, dense, especially when young, sometimes elongate, calyces usually conspicuously overlapping in flower and sometimes in fruit, usually branched, 20-flowered, usually several to many open at same time, not 1-sided, 5–20 cm; bracts purplish, lanceolate to linear, undivided, rarely 2-fid, 4–5 mm, longer than pedicels, shorter than calyx. |
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Pedicels | 2–5(–10) mm; involucellar bractlets absent. |
1–4 mm, to 7–8 mm in fruit; involucellar bractlets absent. |
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Flowers | bisexual or unisexual and pistillate, plants gynodioecious; calyx 5–12 mm, uniformly densely stellate-puberulent; petals pink to pale purple, pale-veined, (5–)10–28 mm, pistillate flowers darker, 5–15 mm; staminal column 4–5 mm, stellate-puberulent; anthers white; stigmas (6 or)7 or 8. |
bisexual or often unisexual and pistillate, plants gynodioecious; calyx somewhat urceolate, 8–9 mm, to 10–12 mm in fruit, lobes strongly reticulate-veined, sparsely stellate-hairy or proximally glabrous, lobe tips usually purple, rarely green, margins ciliate; petals bright pinkish lavender, drying deep purple, veins not paler, bases not white, pistillate usually 8–10 mm, bisexual (10–)15–20 mm; staminal column 6–7 mm, hairy; anthers white; stigmas (5–)7 or 8(or 9). |
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Seeds | 1.5–2.8 mm. |
3 mm. |
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Schizocarps | 6–8 mm diam.; mericarps (6 or)7 or 8, 3–4 mm, usually glandular-puberulent to stellate-puberulent, sometimes glabrous, roughened, strongly reticulate-veined, sides and back pitted, mucro 0.5–1 mm. |
8–9 mm diam.; mericarps (5–)7 or 8(or 9), 4 mm, smooth, glabrous (rarely sparsely glandular-puberulent), thin-walled, apical margins sharp-edged, not winged, back sometimes slightly wrinkled, mucro 0.8–1.3 mm. |
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2n | = 20. |
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Sidalcea asprella |
Sidalcea hendersonii |
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Phenology | Flowering Jun–Aug. | |||||
Habitat | Coastal marshes, sandy to boggy tidal areas, upper beach meadows | |||||
Elevation | 0–50 m [0–160 ft] | |||||
Distribution |
CA; OR
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AK; OR; WA; BC
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Discussion | Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Sidalcea asprella is variable and occurs from the central Sierra Nevada to southwestern Oregon. Typical plants in the central Sierra Nevada have weak, elongated stems that are often supported by neighboring vegetation; they lack simple recurved hairs at the stem base and may have either elongated rhizomes or a caudex. It has been confused with S. celata, S. elegans, S. gigantea, and S. glaucescens; formerly it was included within S. malviflora; molecular study has shown that it is different from S. malviflora. It belongs to a group including S. celata, S. elegans, S. gigantea, and S. hirtipes (K. Andreasen and B. G. Baldwin 2003). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Sidalcea hendersonii is showy and distinctive; it has been confused with S. oregana subsp. spicata and with S. cusickii, to which it is similar and apparently closely related. Like S. cusickii, S. hendersonii generally has purplish tinted vegetative parts, compact inflorescences with flowers that are mostly open at the same time, and ciliate calyx lobes. Sidalcea hendersonii is generally considered vulnerable; the number of extant populations has declined in recent decades, especially in Oregon, where it is close to extirpation. It can be distinguished by its marshy seacoast habitat, its often hollow stems, its tendency to be glabrous, its dense, compound inflorescences, and its relatively large mericarps and mucro. It is the northernmost species of Sidalcea and is the one better adapted to brackish or saline marshes. Sidalcea hendersonii occurs from Douglas County, Oregon, to British Columbia, and a single specimen is known from Alaska. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 325. | FNA vol. 6, p. 334. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
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Synonyms | S. malviflora subsp. asprella | |||||
Name authority | Greene: Bull. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 78. (1885) | S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 23: 262. (1888) | ||||
Web links |