FNA: Claytonia parviflora subsp. grandiflora vs. Claytonia

Phenology

Flowering Feb–Apr.

Habitat

Foothill pine/blue oak woodlands of Sierra Nevada foothills and lower slopes

Elevation

100-1200 m (300-3900 ft)

Distribution

CA

[BONAP county map]

North America; (including Mexico); Central America (Guatemala); Asia; adventive in Europe and New Zealand A related species; Claytonia joanneana Roemer & Schultes; occurs in the Altai Mountains of Siberia and Mongolia

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Species 26 (25 in the flora).

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

Key

1. Plants annual, sometimes biennial, with minute, tuberous bodies	→ 2
1. Plants perennial, with stolons, rhizomes, tubers, or woody caudices	→ 10
2. Inflorescences with 2-several bracts (rarely only 2); proximalmost bract leaflike, distal bracts leaflike or reduced to membranous scales	→ 3
2. Inflorescence ebracteate or 1-bracteate; bract leaflike	→ 5
3. Flowers 4-8 mm diam.; petals not candy-striped; basal leaf blades rhombic or ovate	C. washingtoniana
3. Flowers 8-20 mm diam.; petals white, candy-striped, or pink; basal leaf blades linear to deltate	→ 4
4. Cauline leaf blades linear; distal bracts reduced to membranous scales; seeds (1-)6	C. arenicola
4. Cauline leaf blades broad; distal bracts leaflike; seeds (1-)3	C. sibirica
5. Flowers 10-15 mm diam.; inflorescences ebracteate	C. saxosa
5. Flowers 2-12 mm diam.; inflorescences 1-bracteate	→ 6
6. Basal leaf blades usually trullate or rhombic to deltate, sometimes spatulate, less than 3 times longer than wide	→ 7
6. Basal leaf blades usually linear, sometimes spatulate, blade much longer than wide	→ 8
7. Basal rosettes flattened to suberect; leaf blades trullate, spatulate, or narrowly rhombic to ovate, apex obtuse, red pigmentation often strong even in juvenile plants	C. rubra
7. Basal rosettes suberect to erect, seldom flattened; leaf blades broadly rhombic to deltate or reniform, apex obtuse to apiculate, red pigmentation often weak	C. perfoliata
8. Seeds often smooth or with low tubercles, not pebbly; leaf blades not glau- cous, green or pink	C. parviflora
8. Seeds often tuberculate and pebbly; leaf blades glaucous, gray, beige, or pink	→ 9
9. Flowers 3-5 mm diam	C. exigua
9. Flowers 6-12 mm diam	C. gypsophiloides
10. Plants with tubers sometimes connected by rhizomes	→ 11
10. Plants with rhizomes or woody caudices	→ 19
11. Bracts 2 or more, distal bracts leaflike or reduced to membranous scales; cauline leaves often strongly tapered in basal 1/2	→ 12
11. Bracts 1 or absent, (rarely 2 in C. caroliniana); cauline leaves seldom tapered in no more than basal 1/4	→ 15
12. Bracts all leaflike; tubers napiform	C. ogilviensis
12. Proximalmost bract leaflike, distal bracts reduced to membranous scales; tubers globose	→ 13
13. Petals white with yellow blotch at base	C. tuberosa
13. Petals white, pink, rose, magenta, cream, yellow, or yellow-orange, lacking yellow blotch at base	→ 14
14. Petals pink, rose, or magenta	C. rosea
14. Petals white, cream, yellow, or yellow-orange	C. multiscapa
15. Bracts absent; petals pink to magenta	C. umbellata
15. Bracts present; petals white, white with yellow blotch at base, yellow, orange, or candy-striped (sometimes pink, rose, or magenta in C. caroliniana, C. lanceolata, and C. virginica)	→ 16
16. Cauline leaf blades linear, 0.2-1.2 cm wide, tapered to slender base	→ 17
16. Cauline leaf blades lanceolate or spatulate to ovate, 0.4-2.5 cm wide, abruptly petiolate or sessile	→ 18
17. Petals white, pinkish, or rose, candy-striped, rarely yellow or orange, or white with pink-lavender candy-stripes; e North America to Texas	C. virginica
17. Petals white with yellow blotch at base; Alaska, Yukon	C. tuberosa
18. Basal leaves 6-21; cauline leaves petiolate; e North America	C. caroliniana
18. Basal leaves 1-6 or absent; cauline leaves sessile; w North American cordillera	C. lanceolata
19. Plants with woody caudices	→ 20
19. Plants rhizomatous	→ 22
20. Basal leaves and bracts with apex acute; petals white or pink to bright rose with yellow blotches at base, or white	C. acutifolia
20. Basal leaves and bracts (where present) with apex obtuse; petals usually pink to magenta, sometimes yellow or white	→ 21
21. Stems 1-10 cm; bracts absent; Alaska	C. arctica
21. Stems 10-50 cm; bracts present; not in Alaska	C. megarhiza
22. Bracts present; seeds (1-)3	→ 23
22. Bracts absent; seeds (1-)6	→ 24
23. Cauline leaves equal, sessile, blade lanceolate to ovate; basal leaf blades 1-5 cm wide	C. sibirica
23. Cauline leaves unequal, petiolate, blade linear to spatulate; basal leaf blades 0.1-1 cm wide	C. palustris
24. Rhizomes 0.5-3 mm diam.; Alaska, Yukon, n British Columbia	→ 25
24. Rhizomes 4-8 mm diam.; w United States	→ 26
25. Basal leaf baldes linear to narrowly spatualte, 1-10 × 0.1-1 cm	C. scammaniana
25. Basal leaf blades elliptic to spatulate, 1-8 × 1-2 cm	C. sarmentosa
26. Basal leaf blades deltate to ovate or cordate; cauline leaf blades 1-5 cm; petals white	C. cordifolia
26. Basal leaf blades spatulate to rhombic or ovate; cauline leaf blades 0.5-2 cm; petals pink to magenta	C. nevadensis