Cardionema ramosissimum
Bot. Gaz. 56: 473. 1913.
Illustrated
Basionym: Loeflingia ramosissima Weinmann Flora 3: 608. 1820 (as Loefflingia).
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 5. Treatment on page 46.
Stems often forming dense mats, 5–30+ cm, often obscured by stipules and dense pubescence. Leaves: stipules 1–8 mm, often nearly as long as leaves, lobes acuminate; blade 2-grooved, 5–13 mm, apex finely spinose, glabrous. Flowers densely woolly, hairs 0.5–1.5 mm; sepals 5, margins fimbriate, awn 1.5–4 mm; staminodes white, 0.3–0.5 mm. Utricles: apex apiculate. Seeds 1.4–1.6 mm.
Phenology: Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat: Sandy beaches, grassy bluffs, sand dunes
Elevation: 0-200 m
Distribution
Calif., Oreg., Wash., Mexico, South America (Chile, Ecuador, Peru).
Discussion
The flowers are burlike in fruit with the utricle enclosed in the rigid, persistent calyx, the presumed unit of seed dispersal.
Selected References
None.
Lower Taxa
None.