Erythranthe alsinoides

Annuals, fibrous-rooted. Stems erect, usually simple, (0.5–)2–6(–15) cm, glandular-puberulent, hairs 0.1–0.2 mm, gland-tipped, nodes 2(or 3), usually red-tinged. Leaves basal and cauline; petiole 1–20(–30) mm, distinctly 3-veined (winged); blade palmately 3-veined, lanceolate-ovate to ovate, elliptic, or suborbicular, 3–18(–32) × 3–12(–25) mm, base cuneate to truncate, margins dentate to denticulate or subentire, apex acute to obtuse or rounded, surfaces glandular-puberulent, hairs 0.1–0.2 mm, gland-tipped. Flowers herkogamous, 1–4(–8), from distal or medial to distal nodes. Fruiting pedicels 15–32 mm, glandular-puberulent, hairs 0.1–0.2 mm, gland-tipped. Fruiting calyces purplish, slightly ridge-angled, campanulate-cylindric, weakly or not inflated, 5–8 mm, margins subtruncate, sparsely minutely stipitate-glandular, lobes 4, (0–)0.5–1 mm, sometimes barely evident, 1 lobe usually slightly longer, margins appearing subtruncate, shallowly convex to rounded-mucronulate. Corollas yellow, abaxial limb with a large maroon splotch, also red-spotted, bilaterally symmetric, ± bilabiate; tube-throat funnelform-cylindric, 6–9 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin; throat open, palate villous, abaxial ridges low. Styles glabrous. Anthers included, glabrous. Capsules included, (3–)5–7 mm.

Phenology: Flowering Mar–Jun.
Habitat: Open, rocky slopes, cliff faces, bluffs, mossy rock crevices, ledges, moist rocks, roadsides, along wet paths and trails.
Elevation: 10–1900 m.

B.C., Calif., Idaho, Oreg., Wash.

Discussion

Erythranthe alsinoides is distinct in its short, erect stems with few nodes, small, mostly ovate to elliptic-ovate, petiolate leaves, minutely stipitate-glandular vestiture, small corollas with a prominent maroon splotch on the abaxial limb, small, non-inflated mature calyces and, most especially, by its nearly truncate calyx margin. Erythranthe pulsiferae is superficially similar to E. alsinoides but has larger calyces borne on divergent-arcuate pedicels, smaller leaf blades with attenuate to cuneate bases, and the corolla limbs are smaller and lack a prominent maroon splotch.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa