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chaparral checkerbloom, Hickman's checkerbloom

Keck's checkerbloom

Habit Herbs, perennial, 0.1–0.8 m, not glaucous, with thick, woody taproot or caudex, without rhizomes. Herbs, annual, 0.1–0.4 m, not glaucous, with taproot.
Stems

several to many (ca. 3–20+), clustered, erect to ascending, branched or unbranched, solid, usually densely stellate-canescent.

single, erect, sometimes branched distally, solid, short-stellate-puberulent and long, soft bristly-hairy, distally with multicellular trichomes intermixed, hairs erect.

Leaves

cauline, evenly arrayed on stem, usually similar in size, shape;

stipules linear-lanceolate to ovate, 2–9 × 1–3 mm, widest above base, width sometimes exceeding stem diam.;

petiole 0.6–3(–9) cm, 1/2–3 times as long as blade, apex often with pulvinus;

blade orbiculate or reniform to flabelliform, unlobed and margins coarsely crenate to shallowly or deeply lobed, 1–7 × 1–7 cm, usually wider than long, base truncate or cordate, apex rounded, surfaces stellate-hairy.

cauline, 3–5 per stem;

stipules linear-filiform, undivided or rarely few-divided in robust plants, 3–5 × 1 mm;

petiole 2–4.5(–6) cm, usually 1–2 times as long as blade;

blades: proximalmost orbiculate, unlobed, 1–2.5 × 1–2.5 cm, base cordate with narrow sinus, margins crenate, apex rounded;

other proximals rounded, unlobed or shallowly palmately 7–9-lobed, 2.5–4.8(–6) × 2.5–4.8(–6) cm, margins coarsely crenate, sinus wide to narrow, surfaces stellate-hairy;

distals gradually reduced, orbiculate, more deeply 3-lobed, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2.5 cm, lobes obovate, apically widened to nearly truncate and narrowed to base, margins entire, apex 2–5-toothed, teeth subequal.

Inflorescences

erect, infrequently ascending, usually spiciform, dense or open, calyces overlapping or not, branched or unbranched, 2–20+-flowered, proximal flowers scattered, usually more congested distally, not notably elongate in flower, not 1-sided, (1.5–)3–25 cm, usually longer in fruit;

bracts linear to ovate-lanceolate or oblong, undivided, 2-fid, or divided, 2–8(–12) mm, not involucrelike, distal entire to 2-fid, stipulelike, proximalmost not involucrelike, divided to base, much shorter than to nearly equaling calyx.

erect to ascending, usually open, calyces not overlapping except possibly in bud, unbranched or infrequently branched, 5–12-flowered per branch, not especially elongate, usually 1-sided, 5–10 cm, to 5–15 cm in fruit, 1/2 times plant height;

bracts linear-filiform, undivided or rarely few-divided in robust plants, (3–)7–11 mm, longer than pedicels, usually much shorter than calyx, not involucrelike, densely stellate-hairy and pilose-hirsute.

Pedicels

1–4(–5) mm;

involucellar bractlets (2 or)3, 2–10 mm, shorter to slightly longer than calyx.

2–4 mm, to 5–6 mm in fruit;

involucellar bractlets absent.

Flowers

usually bisexual, infrequently unisexual and pistillate;

calyx 4–12 mm, densely to sparsely stellate-puberulent to long-bristly;

petals usually pale pink to pink-lavender, rarely white, veins not conspicuously whitened, 5–17 mm;

staminal column 4–7 mm, hairy;

anthers white to pale pinkish or pale yellow;

stigmas (4–)6 or 7(–10).

bisexual;

calyx 8–10 mm, to 11–14 mm in fruit, lobe base within with conspicuous, purplish spot 1–2 mm wide, hairy, hairs glandular and non-glandular, multicellular as in inflorescence;

petals dark pink, without pale veins, with or without reddish basal spot, 10–22(–26) mm;

filaments connate to apex of tube;

staminal column 3–5 mm, hairy, hairs relatively long, simple;

anthers white;

stigmas 4 or 5.

Seeds

1–2 mm.

1.5–2 mm.

Schizocarps

4–7 mm diam.;

mericarps usually (4–)6 or 7(–10), (1.5–)2–2.5 mm, glabrous, sides usually smooth, thin, margins and back usually lightly reticulate-veined, transversely corrugated, back usually with medial, raised line, not pitted, mucro absent.

5–7 mm diam.;

mericarps 4 or 5, usually tinted pink when fresh, 3–4 mm, usually glabrous, back reticulate-veined, pitted, with prominent midvein, mucro absent but with 1–5 minute bristles in its place.

Sidalcea hickmanii

Sidalcea keckii

Phenology Flowering Apr–May(–Jun).
Habitat Grassy slopes, tolerant of, not restricted to, serpentine
Elevation 70–700 m (200–2300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sidalcea hickmanii is found in isolated populations from southern California to southwestern Oregon and appears to have a relict distribution. K. Andreasen and B. G. Baldwin (2001, 2003) suggested that it is basal within Sidalcea. It is distinctive in having three (normally two in subsp. petraea) involucellar bractlets attached to the calyx, no mucro on the mericarps, and leaves that are almost the same size and shape throughout the stem. Each subspecies apparently represents a distinct relictual colony; the sexuality of these is not well known because of the paucity of specimens. As in many sidalceas, this species in particular appears to be fire-dependent.

Subspecies 7 (7 in the flora).

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

Sidalcea keckii, federally listed as endangered, was once thought to have been extirpated (S. R. Hill 1993); it was rediscovered in 1992. It appears to have occurred historically in at least seven counties; extant populations are thought to be very few. It is found in the southern inner North Coast Ranges in Colusa, Napa, Solano, and Yolo counties, and in the Sierra Nevada foothills in Fresno, Merced, and Tulare counties. It is closely related and similar to S. diploscypha and is often mistaken for that species; differences between the two are discussed under 8. S. diploscypha. Some plants of S. keckii in Colusa, Solano, and Yolo counties have divided bracts like those of S. diploscypha. Sidalcea keckii is vulnerable to agricultural and residential land development.

Of conservation concern.

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

Key
1. Leaf blades usually lobed, incised ± to base; California
→ 2
1. Leaf blades unlobed, incised to 1/2 length; California, Oregon
→ 3
2. Bracts (7–)10–12 mm, equaling or shorter than calyx; c San Luis Obispo County.
subsp. anomala
2. Bracts 5.5–7 mm, shorter than calyx; Napa County.
subsp. napensis
3. Involucellar bractlets 2(–3); petals white to pale pink; flowers bisexual or pistillate; sw Oregon.
subsp. petraea
3. Involucellar bractlets 3; petals pink, pale pink, pinkish lavender, or pale lavender; flowers bisexual; California
→ 4
4. Bracts broadly lanceolate, 5–7(–10) × 2.5–4 mm, slightly shorter than calyx; involucellar bractlets equaling or slightly shorter than calyx; leaf blades: distal unlobed or incised to 1/4 length; Santa Barbara and San Bernardino counties.
subsp. parishii
5. Plants 0.4–0.8 m; stems brick red, greenish, or grayish; calyces stellate-puberulent, hairs longest at margins; involucellar bractlets 2–7 mm; largest leaf blades deeply cordate, 2.5–7 cm wide; inflorescences dense; Monterey County.
subsp. hickmanii
6. Bracts of distal flowers 1, cupped; leaf blades 0.6–1.5 × 0.7–2.2 cm; stems distally stellate-hairy, hairs appressed, 0.2–0.5 mm; plants 0.1–0.4 m; inflorescences not spiciform, to 10-flowered; calyces 4–5.5 mm; n Lake County.
subsp. pillsburiensis
6. Bracts of distal flowers usually 2, flat or cupped; leaf blades (1–)2–4 × (1–)2.7 cm; stems distally hairy, hairs tufted, 0.5–1.2 mm; plants (0.2–)0.3(–0.4) m; inflorescences spiciform in age, 10+-flowered; calyces 6–7 mm; Marin County.
subsp. viridis
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 334. FNA vol. 6, p. 339.
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. hartwegii, S. hendersonii, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
S. hickmanii subsp. anomala, S. hickmanii subsp. hickmanii, S. hickmanii subsp. napensis, S. hickmanii subsp. parishii, S. hickmanii subsp. petraea, S. hickmanii subsp. pillsburiensis, S. hickmanii subsp. viridis
Name authority Greene: Pittonia 1: 139. (1887) Wiggins: Contr. Dudley Herb. 3: 56, plate 13, figs. 2 – 6. (1940)
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