The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

red besseya, red coraldrops, red kittentail or coraldrops

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

Leaves

strictly annual, disintegrating in 1st year;

blade oblong-ovate to ovate, 25+ mm wide, leathery, base cuneate, truncate, or rounded to lobate, sometimes cordate, margins crenate, teeth apices acute to rounded, surfaces sparsely 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 45 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

inserted on receptacle.

epipetalous.

Ovaries

ovules 17–40.

ovules 10–16.

Capsules

densely hairy.

glabrous or glabrescent.

Sepals

4, basal connation between abaxial and adaxial lobes on each side of flower.

4.

Petals

1–4, apex entire or erose;

corolla reddish, bluish purple, green, or white, bilabiate or unilabiate, rudimentary, much shorter than calyx, glabrous, lateral and abaxial petals of abaxial lip connate 1/2+ their lengths, abaxial and adaxial petal lips basally adnate to stamens, tube absent.

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

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

Synthyris rubra

Synthyris missurica

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun; fruiting Apr–Jul.
Habitat Grasslands, open coniferous forests.
Elevation 200–1700 m. (700–5600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Natural hybrids of Synthyris missurica and S. rubra occur near Kamiah, Idaho (A. R. Kruckeberg and F. L. Hedglin 1963).

(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. 304. FNA vol. 17, p. 300.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Synthyris Plantaginaceae > Synthyris
Sibling taxa
S. alpina, S. borealis, S. bullii, 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. 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 rubra, Besseya rubra, Veronica rubra Veronica missurica
Name authority (Douglas ex Hooker) Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 455. (1846) (Rafinesque) Pennell: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 85: 89. (1933)
Web links