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cut-leaf kittentail, western kittentails

Leaves

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

blade ± orbiculate, reniform, or cordate, 25+ mm wide, not leathery, base cordate or lobate, margins ± laciniate, sometimes palmately lobed or incised-crenate, teeth apices obtuse to rounded, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy;

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

Racemes

erect, to 20 cm (usually less than 25 cm in fruit);

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

flowers 15–40, loosely aggregated.

Stamens

epipetalous.

Ovaries

ovules 10–16.

Capsules

glabrous.

Sepals

4.

Petals

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

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

Synthyris laciniata

Phenology Flowering late May–Aug; fruiting Jun–Oct.
Habitat Subalpine meadows, alpine tundra, fellfields.
Elevation 2900–4000 m. (9500–13100 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Synthyris laciniata is found only in high mountain areas of central to west-central and southern Utah. Flowering in S. laciniata begins at the margins of melting snow banks.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 300.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Synthyris
Sibling taxa
S. alpina, S. borealis, S. bullii, S. canbyi, S. cordata, S. dissecta, S. lanuginosa, S. missurica, S. oblongifolia, S. pinnatifida, S. plantaginea, S. platycarpa, S. ranunculina, S. reniformis, S. ritteriana, S. rubra, S. schizantha, S. wyomingensis
Synonyms S. pinnatifida var. laciniata, Veronica utahensis
Name authority (A. Gray) Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 353. (1900)
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