Taraxia subacaulis

(Pursh) Rydberg

Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 281. 1900.

Basionym: Jussiaea subacaulis Pursh Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 304. 1813
Synonyms: Camissonia subacaulis (Pursh) P. H. Raven Oenothera heterantha Nuttall O. heterantha var. taraxacifolia S. Watson O. subacaulis (Pursh) Garrett O. subacaulis var. taraxacifolia (S. Watson) Jepson Taraxia heterantha (Nuttall) Small T. taraxacifolia (S. Watson) A. Heller
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 10.
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Herbs usually glabrate, rarely sparsely strigillose, especially on leaf-blade veins and margins; taproot thick, deep, sometimes branched in age, producing new rosettes. Leaves 2–22 × 0.7–4.2 cm; petiole narrowly winged, 1–12 cm; blade lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, base attenuate, margins usually subentire to sinuate, sometimes deeply and irregularly pinnatifid, apex acuminate. Flowers opening near sunrise; floral-tube 1.5–3 mm, with short, matted hairs inside near base; sepals 4–15 mm, mostly glabrous, sometimes very minutely strigillose; petals yellow, 5–16 mm, often apiculate; episepalous staminal filaments 1.8–6.5 mm, epipetalous ones 0.5–2.5 mm, anthers 0.9–2 mm; sterile prolongation of ovary 15–80 mm, style 4–8.5 (–11) mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent near base, stigma usually surrounded by longer anthers at anthesis, rarely exserted beyond anthers. Capsules 4-angled, oblong-ellipsoid, 11–28 × 5–8 mm, walls thick, scarcely distended by seeds, becoming blackened and persistent on plants for 1+ years after shedding seeds; rarely with pedicel to 10 mm. Seeds uniformly tan to light-brown, ellipsoid-oblanceoloid, 1.3–1.9 × 0.6–1 mm, coarsely pitted. 2n = 14.


Phenology: Flowering late Mar–Jul.
Habitat: Meadows, seasonally moist open places, from foothills to mountains.
Elevation: 400–2900 m.

Distribution

Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Nev., Oreg., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Discussion

Taraxia subacaulis occurs well inland from Pacific coastal areas. Its only occurrence in Colorado is in Moffat and Routt counties. P. H. Raven (1969) determined Taraxia subacaulis to be self-compatible and, usually, facultatively autogamous. The species is distinctive, but is sister to T. tanacetifolia in molecular analyses (R. A. Levin et al. 2004; W. L. Wagner et al. 2007).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"thin" is not a number.

... more about "Taraxia subacaulis"
0.09 cm0.9 mm <br />9.0e-4 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
acuminate +
Warren L. Wagner +
(Pursh) Rydberg +
attenuate +
Jussiaea subacaulis +
indehiscent +  and loculicidal +
subentire +  and deeply sinuate or pinnatifid +
lanceolate +  and narrowly elliptic +
subsessile +  and thick-walled +
curved +  and straight +
1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br /> (2.8 cm28 mm <br />0.028 m <br />) +
oblong-ellipsoid +  and 4-angled +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
Calif. +, Colo. +, Idaho +, Mont. +, Nev. +, Oreg. +, Utah +, Wash. +  and Wyo. +
400–2900 m. +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
basifixed +  and versatile +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
actinomorphic +
subsessile +  and thick-walled +
curved +  and straight +
indehiscent +  and dehiscent +
persistent +
tapering +, subterete +  and 4-angled cylindric-lanceoloid or ovoid or oblong-ellipsoid +
Meadows, seasonally moist open places, from foothills to mountains. +
acaulescent +
perennial +
strigillose +  and glabrate +
whorled +, opposite +  and alternate +
deciduous +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (22 cm220 mm <br />0.22 m <br />) +
basal +  and cauline +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (4.2 cm42 mm <br />0.042 m <br />) +
abscission +
pinnatifid +, usually subentire +  and sinuate +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
numerous +  and 1 +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (1.6 cm16 mm <br />0.016 m <br />) +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
Flowering late Mar–Jul. +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (18 cm180 mm <br />0.18 m <br />) +
Mem. New York Bot. Gard. +
basal +  and cauline +
clavate +  and globose +
uniformly tan +  and light-brown +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.19 cm1.9 mm <br />0.0019 m <br />) +
7 +  and numerous +
ellipsoid-oblanceoloid +
0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
purple +, pink +, red +  and green +
deciduous +
strigillose +  and glabrous +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
parenchymatous +
parietal +, axile +  and placentation +
unequal +
aquatic +, amphibious +  and terrestrial +
2 times as many or as many as sepals +
prostrate +  and decumbent +
globose +, lobed +  and entire +
intrapetiolar +
0.85 cm8.5 mm <br />0.0085 m <br /> (1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br />) +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.85 cm8.5 mm <br />0.0085 m <br />) +
aquatic +, amphibious +  and terrestrial +
non-papillate +
Camissonia subacaulis +, Oenothera heterantha +, O. heterantha var. taraxacifolia +, O. subacaulis +, O. subacaulis var. taraxacifolia +, Taraxia heterantha +  and T. taraxacifolia +
Taraxia subacaulis +
species +
3(-5)-aperturate +
persistent +
distended +
smooth +  and erose +
papillate +