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Hartweg's checkerbloom, valley checkerbloom

scadden flat checkerbloom

Habit Herbs, annual, 0.1–0.4(–0.6) m, not glaucous, with taproot. Herbs, perennial, 0.3–0.7 m, not glaucous, with slender, elongated rhizomes to 1 cm diam.
Stems

single, erect, unbranched or distally branched, often zigzag, solid, proximally usually glabrous or sparsely stellate-puberulent.

single or in dense patches, erect, solid, hairy, hairs simple, spreading, bristly.

Leaves

cauline;

stipules deciduous or inconspicuous, sometimes purplish, subulate, 1–1.5(–3) × 0.5–1 mm;

petiole 0.5–1.5(–3) cm, usually 1/2 times involucellar bractlets absent.

cauline, evenly arrayed on stem;

stipules asymmetric-ovate and auriculate, 10–20 × 10–20 mm, width exceeding stem diam.;

petioles of proximal leaves 7–10 cm, gradually reduced distally to 2 cm, 1–1 1/2 times blade length proximally to 1/2 blade length distally;

blade ovate to elliptic, unlobed, usually (4–)7–8 × (2.5–)4–5 cm, reduced distally, base cordate, margins crenate-serrate, apex acute to rounded, surfaces glabrous abaxially, sparsely hirsute adaxially.

Inflorescences

erect, capitate, ± dense, calyces overlapping, unbranched, 2–10-flowered, not elongate, not 1-sided, 3–5 cm;

proximalmost bracts involucrelike, similar to stipules in size and shape, narrowed to linear distally, usually divided to base, 10–20 mm, longer than pedicels, equaling or slightly shorter than calyx.

Pedicels

1–2 mm;

involucellar bractlets 3, 8–12 mm, equaling or longer than calyx.

Flowers

bisexual or unisexual and pistillate, plants gynodioecious;

calyx 8–10(–12) mm, not much enlarging in fruit, stellate-canescent, sparsely ciliate;

petals pink to rose-purple or white, pale-veined, often whitened at base, 18–20(–25) mm;

stamens: outer filaments incompletely connate, distally distinct, anthers not attached to connate portion of filaments;

staminal column 6–7 mm, hairy;

anthers white, stalked, aborted in pistillate flowers;

stigmas 6 or 7.

bisexual;

calyx 8 mm, sparsely to densely bristly, sometimes also stellate-hairy;

petals pink, usually pale-veined, 15 mm;

staminal column 4–6 mm, hairy;

anthers white;

stigmas 7 or 8.

Seeds

1.5–2 mm.

1.9 mm.

Schizocarps

5–7 mm diam.;

mericarps 6 or 7, 2.5–4 mm, sides smooth, margins rugose, back reticulate-veined, deeply pitted especially on top, glabrous or glandular-puberulent, mucro 0.5–0.8(–1) mm.

4–5 mm diam.;

mericarps 7 or 8, 2 mm, glabrous, smooth, back with medial line, mucro absent.

Sidalcea hartwegii

Sidalcea stipularis

Phenology Flowering (Mar–)Apr–Jun. Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Dry to moist, grassy hillsides, foothill woodlands, vernal pools, often on serpentine Marshes
Elevation 30–800(–1000) m (100–2600(–3300) ft) 700 m (2300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sidalcea hartwegii is widespread in California from Tulare to Shasta counties, a range similar to those of the other vernal-pool annuals. It is most easily recognized by its stamen column, on which the anthers are borne on free portions of filaments, unlike in the other annual

species and more typical of the perennial species. This helps to support the suggestion that the annual species were separately derived and not part of a single lineage. Sidalcea hartwegii often grows with S. calycosa, from which it can be distinguished also by its rugose rather than deeply longitudinally furrowed dorsal mericarp surfaces.

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

Of conservation concern.

Sidalcea stipularis is the most distinctive and easily recognized species of Sidalcea; it is also among the rarest. It is listed as endangered in California. The ovate unlobed leaves are found in no other Sidalcea species. The relatively large stipules, bracts, and involucellar bractlets are also unique in Sidalcea, making the inflorescence appear involucrate. Studies by K. Andreasen and B. G. Baldwin (2001, 2003) suggested that it is one of the basal species within Sidalcea, and it has probably been long isolated. Sidalcea stipularis is known from the northern Sierra Nevada foothills in Nevada County.

Sidalcea stipularis is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 333. FNA vol. 6, p. 355.
Parent taxa Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Sidalcea Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Sidalcea
Sibling taxa
S. asprella, S. calycosa, S. campestris, S. candida, S. celata, S. covillei, S. cusickii, S. diploscypha, S. elegans, S. gigantea, S. glaucescens, S. hendersonii, S. hickmanii, S. hirsuta, S. hirtipes, S. keckii, S. malachroides, S. malviflora, S. multifida, S. nelsoniana, S. neomexicana, S. oregana, S. pedata, S. ranunculacea, S. reptans, S. robusta, S. setosa, S. sparsifolia, S. stipularis, S. virgata
S. asprella, S. calycosa, S. campestris, S. candida, S. celata, S. covillei, S. cusickii, S. diploscypha, S. elegans, S. gigantea, S. glaucescens, S. hartwegii, S. hendersonii, S. hickmanii, S. hirsuta, S. hirtipes, S. keckii, S. malachroides, S. malviflora, S. multifida, S. nelsoniana, S. neomexicana, S. oregana, S. pedata, S. ranunculacea, S. reptans, S. robusta, S. setosa, S. sparsifolia, S. virgata
Synonyms S. hartwegii var. tenella, S. tenella
Name authority A. Gray: Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts, n. s. 4: 20. (1849) J. T. Howell & G. H. True: Four Seasons 4(4): 20, fig. 16. (1974)
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