Erythranthe corallina
Phytoneuron 2012-39: 44. 2012.
Perennials, rhizomatous, rhizomes often forming a mass, usually branching, filiform. Stems usually erect to ascending-erect, few-branched, 6–25(–38) cm, moderately hirsute to hirtellous, hairs deflexed. Leaves basal and cauline, becoming larger distally or even-sized; petiole 0 mm or proximals 1–15 mm; blade palmately 5-veined, ovate to broadly ovate, 15–45 mm, base mostly truncate to shallowly cordate, margins sharply dentate-serrate, apex obtuse, surfaces hirtellous to softly hirsute, hairs ascending, straight, dull gray, sharp-pointed, thick-walled, eglandular. Flowers herkogamous, 1–3(–6), commonly solitary or from distal nodes. Fruiting pedicels (10–)25–75 mm, glabrous or puberulent proximally, hairs stipitate-glandular. Fruiting calyces sometimes purple-spotted, broadly cylindric-campanulate, inflated, sagittally compressed, 11–15 mm, glabrous, throat not closing, proximal lobe pair slightly upcurving. Corollas yellow, red-spotted, bilaterally symmetric, bilabiate; tube-throat narrowly funnelform to broadly cylindric, 13–20 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin; limb expanded 12–22 mm. Styles sparsely hirtellous. Anthers included, glabrous. Capsules included, stipitate, 7–10 mm. 2n = 48, 56.
Phenology: Flowering (May–)Jun–Aug.
Habitat: Creek banks, moraine water courses, bogs, marshes, wet meadows, roadside ditches.
Elevation: (1400–)1700–2700(–3000) m.
Discussion
Erythranthe corallina is a morphologically consistent entity that occurs only in the Sierra Nevada of California and adjacent Nevada (Washoe County and Carson City). Its chromosome number is reported as 2n = 48 and 56, compared to 2n = 28 and 56 in E. tilingii; identities of the E. corallina vouchers should be rechecked and additional counts made, since the occurrence of such wide dysploidy seems unlikely. Compared to the leaf blades of E. tilingii in the strict sense, those of E. corallina are relatively broader (broadly ovate to orbicular-ovate), the plants generally taller, and long-pedicellate flowers occasionally are produced from mid stem or even proximal nodes. The hirsutulous to hirsute vestiture of eglandular hairs on both leaf surfaces is a reliably diagnostic feature and usually easily observed with a 10× lens.
Some plants of Erythranthe corallina from San Bernardino County, California, produce decumbent-ascending stems (4–10 cm) and ovate-triangular leaves (blade 5–10 × 3–6 mm), but the dense system of filiform rhizomes, flowers one to three, and hirtellous foliar vestiture serve to identify them.
Selected References
None.