sweet-flowered fairy-candelabra
Primulaceae
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
Map
Distribution of Androsace chamaejasme subsp. andersonii
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Species Information
General:
Plants perennial, loosely mat-forming, from a branched caudex.
Leaves:
Leaves in multiple dense basal rosettes, strap-shaped to oblong, margins ciliate, surfaces usually grey soft-hairy with simple hairs (rarely glabrescent), 3-15 mm.
Flowers:
Inflorescences of 2-8 flowers; involucral bracts lanceolate to ovate. Flowers short-stalked; corollas salverform, white to pink-tinged with a yellow throat (throat turning pinkish with age), 4-8 mm wide; calyces broadly campanulate to subglobose, sometimes slightly keeled, long-hairy, lobes ovate-lanceolate 2-5 (8) mm; pedicels erect, 0.5-1.5 mm long, shorter than the calyces. Flowering Jun-Aug.
Fruits:
Capsules globose or subglobose, about equalling the calyx, 5-valvate.
Stems:
Stems prostrate. Scapes solitary, sparsely to densely hairy with long, soft, shaggy hairs, 2-10 cm tall.
Source: The Vascular Flora of British Columbia, draft 2014.
Author: Jamie Fenneman
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry, calcareous meadows, gravelly areas, rocky slopes, heath, and tundra in the subalpine and alpine zones. Rare in n and se BC (Rocky Mts.); AK east to NU, south to NM; Eurasia.Source: The Vascular Flora of British Columbia, draft 2014.
Author: Jamie Fenneman
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Androsace chamaejasme subsp. lehmanniana (Spreng.) Hultén
Taxonomic Keys
Key to Androsace
1a. Plants perennial, mat-forming, from a branched caudex; leaves grey soft-hairy, in multiple rosettes; flowers 4-8 mm wide, white with a yellow throat; pedicels shorter than the calyces………………………,,,..…………………..…….A. chamaejasme 1b. Plants annual or biennial, not mat-forming, from a taproot; leaves glabrescent to hairy with straight hairs but not grey soft-hairy, in a single basal rosette; flowers 1-3 mm wide, white; pedicels much longer than the calyces…………………………...2 2a. Involucral bracts broadly lanceolate to oblong or ovate, leaf-like; corollas essentially included within the calyces; calyces not keeled; calyx lobes narrowly ovate, about equal to the tube………………,,,……….………….………...……..A. occidentalis 2b. Involucral bracts linear to lanceolate, not leaf-like; corollas slightly exceeding the calyces; calyces keeled; calyx lobes more or less triangular, shorter than the tube…………….………...……………………………………………..…A. septentrionalis Source: Vascular Flora of British Columbia, draft version 2014 Author: Jamie Fenneman |
Taxonomic Notes
This distinctive, showy species is closely associated with calcareous environments and coarse, well-drained soils. Our plants represent the North American component of a circumpolar complex; the remaining taxa in this complex occur in Eurasia. North American and northern Eurasian populations of A. chamaejasme have traditionally been attributed to ssp. lehmanniana (Spreng.) Hult.; however, as ssp. lehmanniana should properly apply only to European populations (at least populations from the Caucasus), northern and North American plants are better recognized as ssp. andersonii (Elven 2013). The distribution of this species, both in North America and Eurasia, is characterized by numerous widely disjunct populations.
Source: The Vascular Flora of British Columbia, Draft Version February 2014 Author: Jamie Fenneman |