Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Tofieldia

false asphodel, tofieldia
Habit Herbs, perennial, rhizomatous, glabrous.
Stems

scapelike, sometimes with 1–3 leaves near base, smooth.
Leaves

equitant, 2-ranked;

blade linear.
Inflorescences

terminal, racemose, open to dense, sometimes spikelike, bracteate, sometimes bracteolate, elongating in fruit;

bracteoles connate in epicalyx.
Flowers

inserted singly;

tepals persistent, 6, in 2 somewhat dissimilar series, distinct;

stamens 6;

filaments dilated basally, strongly flattened (except T. coccinea);

anthers basifixed, 2-locular, introrse, without appendages;

ovary superior, stipitate, apocarpous basally, glabrous;

intercarpellary nectary present;

styles 3.
Fruits

capsular, broadly ellipsoid to globose or obovoid, chartaceous, glabrous, dehiscence septicidal, then adaxially loculicidal.
Seeds

reddish brown, without appendages.
x

= 15.

Tofieldia
Distribution
from USDA
North America; Eurasia
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species 7 or 8 (3 in the flora).

Following the example of J. G. Baker (1879) and R. R. Gates (1918), this treatment of Tofieldia excludes the species of sect. Triantha, which is recognized instead as a distinct genus; see J. G. Packer (1993). Tofieldia sometimes has been treated very broadly, to include not only Triantha but also Pleea (W. B. Zomlefer 1997c).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Margins of bracts 3-lobed; bracteoles absent.
T. pusilla
1. Margins of bracts ± entire; bracteoles 3-lobed.
→ 2
2. Stems 2–20 cm; inflorescences 0.5–2.5 cm; tepals 2–2.5 mm.
T. coccinea
2. Stems 25–90 cm; inflorescences 3–25 cm; tepals 3–4.5 mm.
T. glabra
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 60. Author: John G. Packer.
Parent taxa Liliaceae
Subordinate taxa
T. coccinea, T. glabra, T. pusilla
Name authority Hudson: Fl. Angl. ed. 2, 157. (1778)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers