Chorizanthe palmeri

S. Watson

Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 12: 271. 1877.

Common names: Palmer’s spineflower
IllustratedEndemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 457. Mentioned on page 448, 458, 459.
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Plants erect to spreading, (0.5–) 1–3 (–4) × 1–3 dm, appressed-pubescent. Leaves basal; petiole 1–3 cm; blade oblanceolate, 1–3 × 0.4–0.8 cm, thinly pubescent. Inflorescences with involucres in dense clusters 2–4 cm diam., greenish or reddish to purple; bracts 2–3 at proximal node, usually leaflike, often with whorl of sessile bracts about midstem, elliptic, 0.5–1.5 cm × 2–6 mm, becoming gradually lanceolate to elliptic, 0.2–1 cm × 1.5–5 mm, at distal nodes scalelike, linear and aciculate, acerose, awns straight, 1–3 mm. Involucres 3–10 or more, reddish to purplish, urceolate, slightly ventricose basally, 3.5–4 mm, without scarious or membranous margins, slightly corrugate, thinly pubescent with slender, curly hairs; teeth erect to spreading, unequal, 1–2 mm; awns uncinate, 0.5–1 mm with longer anterior one mostly 1 mm. Flowers exserted; perianth bicolored with floral-tube white to yellow and tepals red, maroon, or dark purple, cylindric, 4–5 mm, glabrous or with few scattered hairs along midrib ca. midlength; tepals erect, connate 1/2 their length, dimorphic, obovate, those of outer whorl slightly longer than inner whorl, entire, rounded apically, those of inner whorl fimbriate and truncate or somewhat 2-lobed; stamens 9, exserted; filaments distinct, 4–5 mm, glabrous; anthers pink to red or maroon, oblong, 0.9–1 mm. Achenes brown, globose-lenticular, 3–3.5 mm. 2n = 38, 40, (48).


Phenology: Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat: Gravelly to rocky serpentine and serpentinized igneous outcrops, mixed grassland communities, pine-oak woodlands
Elevation: 60-700 m

Discussion

Chorizanthe palmeri is known only from the Santa Lucia Mountains, the San Luis Range, and the Huasna area. Populations differ slightly both morphologically and ecologically, but recognition of variants is not suggested. At full anthesis, the reddish stems, involucres, and tepals, plus the localized concentrations of individuals provide for splashes of purplish red on the otherwise grass-brown slopes. Set against the often blackish green of serpentine barrens, the plants can be spotted even from a high-flying aircraft! This species would make an excellent addition to the garden border.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."dm" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property."/2" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Chorizanthe palmeri"
globose-lenticular +
pink +  and red or maroon +
0.09 cm0.9 mm <br />9.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
James L. Reveal +
S. Watson +
alternating +
straight +
uncinate +
unequal +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
alternate +  and rosulate +
stipelike +
awn-tipped +  and simple +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
oblanceolate +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
deciduous +
distinct +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
glandular +, woolly-floccose +, tomentose +, strigose +, villous +, hirsute +  and pubescent +
acerose +, becoming gradually lanceolate +  and elliptic +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
disarticulating +, dichotomous +, branched +  and open +
erect +  and spreading +
just below the soil surface or and above the soil surface +  and spreading +
Palmer’s spineflower +
60-700 m +
curved +  and straight +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
white +  and pink or rose maroon or purple or yellow +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
unwinged +  and winged +
black +, red +, brown +  and yellowish +
exserted +  and included +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
spheroidal +, 4-gonous +, lenticular +, biconvex +, discoid +, 3-gonous +  and 2-gonous +
Gravelly to rocky serpentine and serpentinized igneous outcrops, mixed grassland communities, pine-oak woodlands +
midlength +
slender +
uniparous +, capitate +  and cymose +
cymelike +, paniclelike +, racemelike +  and spikelike +
connate +  and free +
reddish +  and purplish +
ventricose +  and urceolate +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
nonmembranous +
lanceolate +  and ovate or spatulate +
in whorls +, opposite +, alternate +  and rosulate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
bractlike +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
lobed +, undulate +, crisped +, crenulate +  and entire +
membranous +  and scarious +
not swollen +
orthotropous +
accrescent +
curved +  and straight +
erect to deflexed +
cylindric +  and campanulate +
accrescent +
fleshy +, indurate +  and membranous +
with extrafloral nectaries +  and not articulate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
Flowering May–Aug. +
homostylous +  and 3-carpellate +
Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts +
, +  and solid +
slender;stout +
Illustrated +  and Endemic +
not disarticulating +
decumbent to erect +  and prostrate +
prostrate +  and erect +
penicillate +, fimbriate +  and capitate +
deciduous +  and persistent +
2-lobed +  and cylindric +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
consisting of a series +  and tubular +
distinct +
erect;spreading +
spreading;erect +
Chorizanthe sect. Anisogonum +, Chorizanthe sect. Eriogonellopsis +  and Chorizanthe sect. Herbaceae +
chambered +, , +  and solid +
slender +  and stout +
Chorizanthe palmeri +
Chorizanthe sect. Ptelosepala +
species +
lobed +  and laciniate +
coriaceous +
shallow +
erect +  and spreading +
unequal +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
persistent +
membranous +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
appressed-pubescent +
3 +, 2 +  and 1 +
truncate +  and entire +