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Besseya rubra

red besseya

Leaves

strictly annual, disintegrating in 1st year;

blade oblong-ovate to ovate, 25+ mm wide, leathery, base cuneate, truncate, or rounded to lobate, sometimes cordate, margins crenate, teeth apices acute to rounded, surfaces sparsely hairy;

basal veins extending into distal 1/2 of blade, lateral veins 3–6 on each side of midvein.

Racemes

erect, to 45 cm in fruit;

sterile bracts 10–30, ovate-spatulate, largest 1+ cm;

flowers 100+, densely aggregated (separating in fruit).

Stamens

inserted on receptacle.

Ovaries

ovules 17–40.

Capsules

densely hairy.

Sepals

4, basal connation between abaxial and adaxial lobes on each side of flower.

Petals

1–4, apex entire or erose;

corolla reddish, bluish purple, green, or white, bilabiate or unilabiate, rudimentary, much shorter than calyx, glabrous, lateral and abaxial petals of abaxial lip connate 1/2+ their lengths, abaxial and adaxial petal lips basally adnate to stamens, tube absent.

Synthyris rubra

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun; fruiting Apr–Jul.
Habitat Grasslands, open coniferous forests.
Elevation 200–1700 m. (700–5600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Natural hybrids of Synthyris missurica and S. rubra occur near Kamiah, Idaho (A. R. Kruckeberg and F. L. Hedglin 1963).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 304.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Synthyris
Sibling taxa
S. alpina, S. borealis, S. bullii, S. canbyi, S. cordata, S. dissecta, S. laciniata, S. lanuginosa, S. missurica, S. oblongifolia, S. pinnatifida, S. plantaginea, S. platycarpa, S. ranunculina, S. reniformis, S. ritteriana, S. rubra, S. schizantha, S. wyomingensis
Synonyms Gymnandra rubra, Besseya rubra, Veronica rubra
Name authority (Douglas ex Hooker) Bentham: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 455. (1846)
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