Cryptantha torreyana (A. Gray) Greene
Torrey's cryptantha
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Torrey's cryptantha
Boraginaceae (Borage family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems simple or branched, with straight, appressed and spreading, stiff hairs, 10-40 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves smaller, withering; stem leaves linear to narrowly oblong, 0.3-3 cm long, uniformly hairy with somewhat appressed to spreading hairs, entire, alternate.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of naked, coiled "spikes", tending to be paired, typically raised somewhat above the leafier part of the plant; petals white, fused at base into a tube that spreads (about 1 mm wide) at the top to 5 tiny lobes, with 5 bulges at the throat; fruiting calyces 4-8 mm long, stiffly appressed-hairy and spreading-bristly.
Fruits:
Nutlets 4, clustered together, 1.5-2.3 mm long, egg-shaped, usually smooth and shining, with medial groove forked and closed at base.
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
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Cryptantha torreyana
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1237 | 915 | 1480 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
46 | 15 | 65 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
207 | 182 | 240 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
1 | 1 | 2 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
7 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
MS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
ICH(2), IDF(2), MS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry to mesic rocky slopes, grasslands and shrublands in the lowland and steppe zones; infrequent in SC BC and on S Vancouver Island; S to UT, WY and CA.Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Cryptantha calycosa (A. Gray) Rydb.
Cryptantha eastwoodiae H. St. John
Cryptantha flexulosa (A. Nelson) A. Nelson
Cryptantha torreyana var. calycosa (A. Gray) Greene
Cryptantha torreyana var. pumila (A. Heller) I.M. Johnst.