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.
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.
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)
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 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.
