Dalea pogonathera var. walkerae

  • Title

    Dalea pogonathera var. walkerae

  • Authors

    Rupert C. Barneby

  • Scientific Name

    Dalea pogonathera var. walkerae (Tharp & F.A.Barkley) B.L.Turner

  • Description

    147b.  Dalea pogonathera Gray var. walkerae (Tharp & Barkley) B. L. Turner

    (Plate CXXXIII)

    Relatively slender and small-flowered; stems (0.4) 0.7-2 (2.5) dm long; leaves (0.4) 0.8-1.8 cm long; spikes 9-12 (13) mm diam, the axis 1-4 (5) cm long; bracts 3-4.5 mm long, 3.2-4.6 mm wide; keel 4.2-5.7 mm, the claws 0.8-1.3 mm, the blades 3.4-4.8 mm long, 1.9-2.7 mm wide; 2n = 14 (Mosquin). — Collections: 71 (viii).

    Plains, low hills, beaches, common and locally abundant on sandy clays, below 180 m (600 ft), of the Gulf Coastal Plain of s. Texas and lower Rio Grande valley downstream from Eagle Pass, s. through neighboring Coahuila and n. Tamaulipas to the first bench of Sierra Madre Oriental in n. Nuevo Leon, n.-w. in scattered stations (perhaps partly introduced along highways) up to 800 m onto the limestones of Edwards Plateau (to Taylor and Reagan cos), and s.-w., up to 1700 m, into centr. San Luis Potosi. — Flowering February to December, perhaps all year near the Gulf coast.—Representative-. UNITED STATES. Texas: E. J. Palmer 11,291 (NY, UC); Tracy 9077 (NY, WIS); A. Heller 1482 (NY); Ripley & Barneby 13,245 (NY), 14,507 (NY, US); Barneby 14,485 (DAO, NY); Correll & Johnston 17,887 (RENNER). MEXICO. Coahuila: Pringle 912 (F). Tamaulipas: Palmer 381 (F, UC); Ripley & Barneby 13,597 (NY); Tracy 9078 (F, NY, W). Nuevo Leon: Palmer 219 in 1880 (F, NY); Pringle 13,727 (ARIZ, F, L, OKLA, UC); Ripley & Barneby 14,783 (NY). San Luis Potosi: Chiang et al. 8217C (NY).

    Dalea pogonathera Gray var. walkerae (Tharp & Barkl.) B. L. Turner, Field & Lab. 24: 16. 1956, based on Parosela walkerae (Thelma Ratcliffe Walker, 1908- ) Tharp & Barkl., Bull. Torrey Club 73: 133. 1946.—"Type: La Joya, Hildalgo [sic] County, ]Texas], February 2, 1942, Mrs. E. J. Walker s. n " — Holotypus (Walker 24), TEX! isotypus, GH!

    Dalea penicillata Moric., Pl. Nouv. d’Amer. 66, minore pro parte, Tab. XLV, fig. 2. 1839.— "Habitat in Texas...Berlandier...2023." — Only the paratypus cited above, G! the holotypus (Berlandier 1747) = D. enneandra.

    The extreme form of var. walkerae differs substantially from the average var. pogonathera in its slender growth, and in the narrow spikes of short-toothed calyces. The petals are usually smaller, and often of a paler violet. In Webb, Starr, and Zapata counties, Texas, the two varieties are found close together, but I have seen only one or two mixed collections (Correll & Johnston 18,115, RENNER). The main range of var. walkerae lies out on the sandy plains below Balcones Escarpment, but is has been found occasionally west of that line and at its southern limit in Nuevo Leon again climbs onto the calcarous piedmont, and gradually loses its distinctive facies. A specimen of var. walkerae was collected by Karwinski as early as 1827 (No. 5755, M), 120 years before the entity received a name.