Hackelia amethystina J.T.Howell

  • Authority

    Gentry, Johnnie L. & Carr, Robert L. 1976. A revision of the genus Hackelia (Boraginaceae) in North America north of Mexico. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 26: 121-227.

  • Family

    Boraginaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Hackelia amethystina J.T.Howell

  • Description

    Species Description - Stout perennial, 4.5-7 dm tall; stems several from an often much branched woody caudex, thinly tomentose below, becoming antrorsely strigose in the inflorescence. Leaves thinly tomentose throughout; radical leaves very many, (10-)14-30 cm long, (1.3-)2-4 cm wide, elliptic, petiolate up to 1/2 their length; lower cauline leaves linear to narrowly elliptic, early deciduous, all but the lowermost sessile, 8-12 cm long, 7-18 mm wide; cauline leaves at midstem and above broadly lanceolate with cordate, subclasping bases, 4-9 cm long, 1.5-4 cm wide. Pedicel 6-9 mm long in fruit. Calyx lobes 2-4 mm long, narrowly oblong. Corolla limb blue (often pinkish) with a whitish throat, 7-12 mm wide; tube ca. 2 mm long. Fornices with appendages papillate-puberulent, about as broad as long, rounded to slightly retuse. Anthers 0.7-0.8 mm long. Nutlets 4.2-5 mm long, ovate; dorsal surface verrucose-hispidulous, the intramarginal prickles small and distinct, 10-17; marginal prickles distinct to their bases or nearly so, mostly all (2-)3-4(-5) mm long but with a few shorter glochidia distinct along the edges of the longer glochidiate prickles. Chromosome number, 2n = 24.

  • Discussion

    Lappula floribunda (Lehm.) Greene var geisiana Jepson, Man. Fl. Pl. Calif. 840. 1925. Type: CALIFORNIA. Placer County: Crags Slope, Deer Park, H. D. Geis 215 (holotype, JEPS!). Type. CALIFORNIA. Tehama County: Log Spring Ridge between Log Spring and Government Flat, July 9, 1941, Eastwood & Howell 9720 (holotype, CAS!; isotype, CAS!). Hackelia amethystina is a robust plant apparently closely related to H. bella, whose range is adjacent to this taxon. The taxon appears biologically distinct, but upon further investigation it may be found to intergrade with H. bella, H. californica, or H. nervosa. A very unusal form which may be Hackelia amethystina, is represented by Eastwood 15292 (CAS) and Milo S. Baker 10277 (US), which have 4-7(-8) very long prickles on the dorsal surface of the nutlet. This character indicates an intermediacy toward forms of H. nervosa and H. velutina. Further investigation of the type of Hackelia rattanii (Brand) Brand may prove that this plant is the same as H. amethystina J. T. Howell. If this is the case, then H. rattanii is the correct epithet for the taxon and H. amethystina is merely a synonym. This is but one of the many taxonomic problems yet to be solved for this group of west American Hackelias. In deference to Gentry, who has had an opportunity to see the type, Carr placed Lappula floribunda var geisiana in synonymy with H. amethystina. Gentry also indicates that he has collected H. amethystina in Plumas county (Gentry & Vierig 2075 and 2083). These collections would extend the geographic range of this taxon to the Sierra Nevada. The species was previously known only from the Coast Ranges.

  • Distribution

    Habitat and distribution (Fig. 19). In meadows, forest clearings, or along stream banks and roadsides, often in deep soil at elevations of 5,000 to 7,000 feet, adjacent comers of Mendocino, Lake, Glenn, and Tehama Counties and probably also in southeastern Trinity County, California. Flowers from late May through July.

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