Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Plant Identification => Plant Identification Questions and Answers => Topic started by: penstemon on June 04, 2015, 05:06:07 AM
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This may be of interest only to me. Attached is a picture of the phyllaries of Townsendia spathulata. It's my belief that the townsendias "Pryor Mountains Form" and "Cotton Ball" are T. condensata, not spathulata, and similar pictures of the phyllaries would be helpful. (Probably too late for this year.)
Townsendia condensata is a high-elevation species, with both apomictic (the most common) and sexual forms, which can be confused with T. spathulata. T. spathulata is sexual, and found at lower elevations.
The claim that the "Pryor Mountains Form" is from the type locality for T. spathulata is curious. Right county (Carbon County), but wrong state. The type locality for T. spathulata is in Carbon County, Wyoming ("near the headwaters of the Platte" according to Nuttall), not Montana, a distance about the same as that between London and Edinburgh.
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Reposting the picture from the previous post at what I hope is a better size to see ....
[attachimg=1]
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In order for "Cotton Ball" or "Pryor Mountains" to be Townsendia spathulata, the phyllaries would have to be shaped like this. I don't have any samples of either at hand. I suspect that they will prove to be more acuminate; i.e. those of T. condensata.
(This is why I don't get invited to parties....)
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From this site (http://www.vplants.org/plants/glossary/asteraceae.html) here is a glossary and graphic describing flower parts in Asteraceae (- and phyllaries!)
Achene
— A hard, one-seeded, indehiscent nutlet with a tight pericarp. An example is the sunflower seed in the shell (pericarp).
Biseriate
— Having two series, or rows, of parts; having two rows or sets of phyllaries (bracts) on the involucre.
Claw
— The narrowed base of the corolla of a ray flower.
Crown
— In the Asteraceae family, scales or awns at the summit of an achene.
Disk or disc
— The central portion of a capitate inflorescence, or the receptacle of such an inflorescence.
Disk flowers
— The central, tubular flowers of the head. Compare ray flower.
Floret
— A single small flower, usually a member of a cluster, such as a head; see disk flower and ray flower.
Head
— A dense, compact cluster of mostly sessile flowers, used to describe the inflorescence in the Asteraceae family.
Imbricate
— Having phyllaries (bracts) on the involucre that overlap each other like roof shingles.
Inflorescence
— The discrete flowering portion or portions of a plant; a flower cluster.
Involucre
— A whorl or imbricated series of bracts, often appearing somewhat calyx-like, typically subtending the head.
Ligulate
— Bearing a ligule.
Ligule
— The dilated or flattened, spreading limb of the composite ray flower.
Limb
— The expanded portion of a corolla above the throat; the expanded portion of any petal.
Pappus
— A modification of the calyx, usually in the Asteraceae family, such that the segments appear as a low crown, a ring of scales, or fine hairs.
Peduncle
— The stalk which supports a head.
Phyllary
— A bract of the involucre.
Ray
— A strap-shaped, ligulate, typically marginal, flower in the head of a composite inflorescence.
Ray flower
— A strap-shaped, ligulate, typically marginal, flower in the head of a composite inflorescence. Also called ligulate flower. Compare to disk flower.
Receptacle
— An enlarged or elongated base of a head on which the flowers are borne.
Staminal tube
— The stamens of a composite flower united into a ring.
Uniseriate
— Having only one series, or row, of parts; having only one row of phyllaries (bracts) on the involucre.
[attachimg=1]
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You're not going to be invited to parties, either.
Townsendia has both apomictic and sexual species. T. condensata is largely apomictic; apomictic plants tend to be uniform and more widely-distributed than sexual forms of the same species (geographical parthenogenesis). As Beaman noted in his monograph, the sexual forms of T. condensata (which I think include Cotton Ball and Pryor Mountains) are difficult to identify.
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You're not going to be invited to parties, either.
Of course not - why do you think I have the time to do this? :-\