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bull's kittentail or coraldrops

Columbia kitten-tails, kittentails, mountain kittentail, tail kittentails

Leaves

strictly annual, disintegrating in 1st year;

blade elliptic or ovate to broadly ovate, 25+ mm wide, leathery, base rounded to lobate or cordate, margins crenate, teeth apices obtuse to rounded, surfaces hairy;

basal veins extending into distal 1/2 of blade, lateral veins 3–6 on each side of midvein.

persistent, some withering in 2d year as new leaves expand;

blade orbiculate to reniform, 25+ mm wide, not leathery, base cordate to lobate, margins ± incised-crenate to dentate, teeth apices rounded to acute or acuminate, surfaces glabrous, rarely sparsely hairy;

basal veins extending into distal 1/2 of blade, lateral veins 2–4 on each side of midvein.

Racemes

erect, to 40 cm in fruit;

sterile bracts 10–30, ovate-spatulate, largest 1+ cm;

flowers 100+, densely aggregated (separating in fruit).

erect, to 33 cm in fruit;

sterile bracts 3+, ovate-spatulate, largest 1+ cm;

flowers 12–100, loosely aggregated.

Stamens

epipetalous.

epipetalous.

Ovaries

puberulent to villous;

ovules 17–40.

ovules 10–16.

Capsules

hairy.

glabrous or glabrescent.

Sepals

4.

4.

Petals

(3 or)4, apex entire or erose;

corolla yellow, bilabiate, tubular to ellipsoid, longer than calyx, hairy, lateral and abaxial petals connate ca. 1/2 their lengths, tube conspicuous.

(3 or)4(or 5), apex entire or erose;

corolla blue, ± regular, campanulate, much longer than calyx, glabrous or puberulent, tube conspicuous.

Synthyris bullii

Synthyris missurica

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun; fruiting May–Jul.
Habitat Sandy prairies, sandy secondary deciduous forests.
Elevation 100–400 m. (300–1300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; IN; MI; MN; OH; WI
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Synthyris bullii is protected throughout its range and may be extirpated in Ohio (NatureServe, www.natureserve.org).

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

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Racemes usually 20–100-flowered, to 33 cm at end of flowering; ovaries glabrous; capsules glabrous.
subsp. major
1. Racemes usually 12–45-flowered, to 25 cm at end of flowering; ovaries sparsely hairy, especially along margins; capsules glabrescent.
→ 2
2. Leaf blade margins regularly toothed; racemes to 20 cm at end of flowering.
subsp. missurica
2. Leaf blade margins regularly to irregularly toothed; racemes to 25 cm at end of flowering.
subsp. stellata
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 299. FNA vol. 17, p. 300.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Synthyris Plantaginaceae > Synthyris
Sibling taxa
S. alpina, S. borealis, S. canbyi, S. cordata, S. dissecta, S. laciniata, S. lanuginosa, S. missurica, S. oblongifolia, S. pinnatifida, S. plantaginea, S. platycarpa, S. ranunculina, S. reniformis, S. ritteriana, S. rubra, S. schizantha, S. wyomingensis
S. alpina, S. borealis, S. bullii, S. canbyi, S. cordata, S. dissecta, S. laciniata, S. lanuginosa, S. oblongifolia, S. pinnatifida, S. plantaginea, S. platycarpa, S. ranunculina, S. reniformis, S. ritteriana, S. rubra, S. schizantha, S. wyomingensis
Subordinate taxa
S. missurica subsp. major, S. missurica subsp. missurica, S. missurica subsp. stellata
Synonyms Gymnandra bullii, Besseya bullii, Veronica bullii, Wulfenia bullii Veronica missurica
Name authority (Eaton) A. Heller: Muhlenbergia 1: 4. (1900) (Rafinesque) Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 85: 89. (1933)
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