4. Chorizanthe douglasii Bentham, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 17: 418. 1836 • Douglas' spineflower
Plants erect, villous annual herbs 1-4(-5) × 0.5-3 dm. Leaves basal, oblanceolate; leaf-blades 0.5-2(-4) × 0.1-0.4(-1) cm, villous, obtuse apically, gradually tapering to a hirsute petiole 1-3 (-6) cm. Inflorescences cymose, dichotomously branched throughout; bracts usually 2, opposite, similar to the leaves at the lower nodes, typically with a whorl of 3-5 about midlength along the stem, 0.5-2(-3) × 0.1-0.5(-1) cm, short petiolate, becoming linear and aciculate at the upper nodes, acerose. Involucres congested in small leafy terminal clusters; tubes cylindrical and slightly ventricose basally, 3-angled but 6-ribbed, 3-5 mm, finely corrugated, hispid at least along the ridges, otherwise sparsely pubescent, greenish, with a conspicuous, broad, purple, membranaceous margin typically extending across the sinuses; teeth 6, spreading, all the same size, (0.7-)1-1.5 mm; awns straight, 0.5-1 mm. Flowers 1, exserted, cylindric, 3.5-4(-4.5) mm, white to rose, slightly pubescent abaxially; perianth lobes monomorphic, obovate, bilobed or denticulate apically, infrequently the inner whorl entire, united ? their length. Stamens 9, slightly exserted; filaments free, attached at the base of the floral tube, 3-4 mm, glabrous; anthers 0.5-0.6 mm, oblong, pink to red. Achenes globose-lenticular, light brown, 3.5-4 mm. n = 20.
Flowering spring-summer (Apr-Jul). Sandy to gravelly places in grassland communities, and in oak and pine woodlands; (210) 300-1530 m; sw Calif. - see map.Chorizanthe douglasii is restricted to the Santa Lucia Mountains and to the San Gabilan and La Panza ranges of west-central California in Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties. The species is infrequent but can be locally common. A single collection made in the Santa Cruz Mountains (Rowntree s.n., 16 Jun 1929, CAS) may have been found in Santa Cruz Co., but the location is uncertain and no other collection is known from the region.
County Listings:
CALIFORNIA: Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - habit
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - habit
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - habit
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - inflorescences
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - detail of an inflorescence
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - involucres and flowers
Chorizanthe douglasii Benth. - details inflorescences, involucres and flowers
All images copyrighted and may be used only with permission - contact James L. Reveal. Webpage published by the University of Maryland
