20. Chorizanthe parryi S. Watson, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 12: 271. 1877
Plant prostrate to spreading, strigose annual herbs 0.2-0.8(-1) × 0.5-4(-6) dm. Leaves basal, oblanceolate to narrowly oblong; leaf-blades 0.5-2.5(-4) × 0.2-0.6(-1.2) cm, thinly pubescent, acute to rounded apically, gradually tapering to a pubescent petiole 0.5-2(-3.5) cm. Inflorescences cymose with the involucres in small open clusters 0.3-1 cm across; bracts 2, opposite, usually foliaceous, 5-15 × 1.5-7 mm, oblanceolate to elliptic, gradually reduced and becoming scalelike at the upper nodes, linear, 1-5 × 1-2 mm, aciculate; awns straight, 0.4-1 mm. Involucres urceolate and slightly ventricose basally, 3-angled but 6-ribbed, grayish to reddish, corrugate; tubes 1.5-2 mm, grayish pubescent; teeth 6, longer three teeth 1-3 mm, divergent and bearing an uncinate or straight awn 0.5-1.5 mm, smaller three teeth obscure, 0.5-1 mm, divergent or recurved and bearing awns 0.2-0.5 mm. Flowers 1, slightly exserted, cylindric, 2.5-3 mm, bicolored with the floral tube greenish-white and the perianth lobes white, sparsely pubescent; perianth lobes slightly dimorphic, united ? their length, those of the outer lobes 1.5× longer than the inner whorl, oblong to oblong-obovate, rounded, erose or rarely some entire to denticulate apically, those of the inner whorl linear-oblanceolate, acute, entire or denticulate apically. Stamens 9; filaments free, attached at the base of the floral tube, 2-2.5 mm, glabrous; anthers 0.2-0.3 mm, oval, white. Achenes globose-lenticular, brown, 2.5-3 mm.
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): w North America (California).1. Involucral awns uncinate. 20a. Chorizanthe parryi var. parryi
1. Involucral awns straight. 20b. Chorizanthe parryi var. fernandina20a. Chorizanthe parryi S. Watson var. parryi • Parry's spineflower
Involucral awns uncinate.
Flowering spring-summer (May-Jun). Sandy soil on flats and foothills in mixed grassland and chaparral communities, 90-760(-1220) m; s Calif.Chorizanthe parryi var. parryi is known today only from a scattered populations in the foothills of the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, California. Much of the native habit of Parry's spineflower was destroyed by development in the twentieth century.
County Listings:
CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino
Chorizanthe parryi S. Watson var. parryi - habit
Chorizanthe parryi S. Watson var. parryi - involucres and flowers
20a. Chorizanthe parryi S. Watson var. fernandina (S. Watson) Jepson, Man. Fl. Pl. Calif. 298. 1923 • San Fernando spineflower
Chorizanthe fernandina S. Watson, Bot. Calif. 2: 481. 1880
Involucral awns straight.
Flowering spring-summer (Apr-Jun). Sandy places on foothills in mixed grassland and chaparral communities; 90-425 m; sw Calif.Chorizanthe parryi var. fernandina was thought to be extinct until two small population were located on Laskey Mesa in Ventura Co., and on Grapevine Mesa in Los Angeles Co., California. The first site consists of some 14 subpopulations all in a sparsely vegetated, undisturbed areas. The second site, found in 2000, has only a single population. The plant otherwise was last collected in Los Angeles Co. in 1929. A single collection (Geis 541; DS) was supposedly gathered near Santa Ana, Orange Co. in 1902. The San Fernando spineflower is being proposed as a federally-listed endangered species.
County Listings:
CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura
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