Chamaecrista serpens var. delicata (Rose) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Authors

    Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby

  • Authority

    Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtrib Cassiinae in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35, part 2: 455-918.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Chamaecrista serpens var. delicata (Rose) H.S.Irwin & Barneby

  • Type

    Holotypus, US! isotypi, GH, K, NY (fragm), P (2 sheets)!

  • Synonyms

    Chamaecrista delicata Rose

  • Description

    Variety Description - Habit and foliage of var. wrightii, but relatively small-fld; stems both incurved- pilosulous and weakly long-hispid, but lfts glabrous; cucullus ± 10-11 mm; longest anthers 4.5-5.5 mm; style ±4 mm.—Collections: 4. [Key: "Fl larger, the asymmetric petal 9-19(-20) mm, the longer anthers to 4-9.5 mm, the style (4-)4.5-10 mm; discontinuously dispersed from s. Arizona to n. Argentina. Lfts of larger lvs 7-9(-12) pairs; Pacific slope of Sa. Madre Occidental from s. Arizona to Jalisco and e. through Sa. Madre del Sur to Guerrero; Chiapas. Fls of medium size, the long petal 10-12 mm, the long anthers to 4.5-5.5 mm, the style ±4 mm; local within the range of the next (Durango to s. Mexico and Guerrero)."]

    Distribution and Ecology - Grassy openings in the oak-belt, ±500-1460 m, apparently local within the range of var. wrightii, known only from Sa. Tres Picos, Durango, from distr. Temascaltepec, México, and from the type station in s. foothills of Sa. Madre del Sur (cf. McVaugh, Candollea 13: 203. 1951).—Fl. IX-I.

  • Discussion

    While easily detached from var. wrightii by the technical character of its abruptly smaller flower and shorter style, var. delicata may be no more than a set of individual, independently derived, minor variants of the common Sierra Madrean variety of Ch. serpens. It differs from most of the Mexican populations of var. serpens in larger flowers combined with the foliage of var. wrightii, but as already mentioned under var. serpens, this foliage is encountered rarely, in Michoacán and México, with the yet smaller flower of the typical variety. These last, with var. delicata, forge indissoluble links between the largest- and smallest- flowered expressions of the Ch. serpens complex.

  • Distribution

    Durango Mexico North America| México Mexico North America|