Key to Eryngium

View taxon page for Eryngium

(For a list of species in Eryngium, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Plant stout, 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

; bracts and sepals blue-tinged; inner bracts lobed at or distal to middle ..... E. articulatum

1' Plant slender to stout, 

prostrate 

Lying flat on the ground.

to erect; bracts and sepals green, styles or anthers occasionally blue; inner bracts not lobed

2. Bract margins thickened, marginal spines 0

3. Leaf generally unlobed, margin sharply 

serrate 

Having margins with sharp, fine to coarse teeth generally pointing tipward, not outward; margins with such teeth on such primary teeth are doubly serrate.

to irregularly cut ..... E. armatum

3' Leaf pinnately to bipinnately lobed

4. Plant erect, silvery; main stem branched 7–32 cm distal to 

rosette 

A radiating cluster of leaves generally at or near ground level.

; n&c SNF ..... E. pinnatisectum

4' Plant 

decumbent 

lying mostly flat on the ground but with tips curving up.

, ± green; main stem branched 1–6 cm distal to rosette; CCo, SCo

5. Basal leaves 

pinnate 

Feather-like; pertaining to veins, lobes, leaflets, or other structures arranged in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane) along either side of an axis; a leaf is odd-pinnate if there is a terminal leaflet, even-pinnate if there is not, and either odd- or even-pinnate may be 1-pinnate (blade divided into primary leaflets), 2-pinnate (primary leaflets divided into secondary leaflets), 3-pinnate (secondary leaflets divided into tertiary leaflets), etc.

with short 

linear 

Elongate, with nearly parallel sides; narrower than elliptic or oblong.

to 

lanceolate 

Narrowly elongate, widest in the basal half, often tapered to an acute tip.

 

lobes 

1. A major expansion or bulge, such as on the margin of a leaf, sepal, or petal, or on the surface of an ovary. 2. The free tips of otherwise fused structures, such as sepals or petals; larger than teeth.

; heads < 13 mm; mature styles <= sepals; CCo (n Monterey Co.) ..... E. montereyense

5' Basal leaves pinnate with long linear lobes to bipinnate; heads < 40 mm; mature styles > sepals; SCo (San Diego Co.)..... E. pendletonense

2' Bract margins not thickened, at least outer generally with spines

6. Leaf 

blade 

Expanded portion of a leaf, petal, or other structure, generally flat but sometimes rolled, cylindric, wavy, or cupped.

>> 

petiole 

Leaf stalk, connecting leaf blade to stem; sometimes more or less indistinct.

, deeply pinnately or bipinnately lobed, lobes broad to narrow

7. Sepals pinnately lobed or toothed to 

entire 

Having margins that are continuous and smooth (i.e., without teeth, lobes, etc.).

, lanceolate, 

tapered 

Gradually (not abruptly) narrower or smaller at base or tip.

to tip-spine

8. Bracts spiny on margin and abaxial surface; fruit scales lanceolate, 

acuminate 

Having a long-tapered, sharp tip, the sides concave.

..... E. castrense

8' Bracts spiny on margins only, or 0–few abaxially; fruit scales 

oblong 

Longer than wide, with nearly parallel sides; wider than linear.

to 

ovate 

Egg-shaped (i.e., widest below the middle) in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane), as a leaf.

, 

acute 

Having a short-tapered, sharp tip, the sides convex or straight and converging at less than a right angle.

..... E. spinosepalum

7' Sepals generally entire, ovate, abruptly narrowed to tip-spine ..... E. vaseyi

9. Main stem branching 1–5 cm distal to rosette; sepal tips erect; n SNF, se ScV, ne SnJV ..... var. vallicola

9' Main stem 0, plant branched within rosette; sepal tips generally 

reflexed 

Abruptly bent or curved downward or backward.

; SCoRO ..... var. vaseyi

6' Leaf blade < petiole or petiole ± 0, 

leaf 

Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).

spiny-margined to 

dentate 

Having margins with sharp, relatively coarse teeth pointing outward, not tipward.

, serrate or irregularly cut, lobes 0 or shallow, broad

10. Plant prostrate or decumbent, with roots and juvenile leaves at 

nodes 

Position on a stem from which one or more structures (especially leaves, buds, branches, or flowers) arise.

; inflorescence raceme-like ..... E. racemosum

10' Plant decumbent to erect, not rooting nor with juvenile leaves at nodes; inflorescence cyme-like

11. Bracts with many spines on margins and abaxial surface ..... E. mathiasiae

11' Bracts with 0 or few spines on abaxial surface

12. Main stem generally 0, plant branched within rosette; 

basal 

At or near the base of a plant or plant part. Especially said of leaves clustered near the ground or of a placenta confined to the base of an ovary.

leaves generally > branches ..... E. alismifolium

12' Main stem present, branched distal to base; basal leaves < branches

13. Plant densely 

puberulent 

Minutely hairy.

throughout; heads 5–7-flowered ..... E. constancei

13' Plant glabrous, or occasionally puberulent only on leaves or bracts; heads > 10-flowered

14. Plant stout, erect; leaf blade tapering to base, petiole obscure; sepal tip-spine generally 1–2 mm; outer bracts > 2 × inner bracts ..... E. jepsonii

14' Plant slender to stout, decumbent to erect; leaf blade abrupt-narrowed at base, < petiole; sepal tip-spine < 1 mm; outer bracts < 2 × inner bracts ..... E. aristulatum

15. Styles in fruit >> calyx; NCo, NCoR, ScV, SnFrB ..... var. aristulatum

15' Styles in fruit ± = calyx; SnFrB, SCoR, SW

16. Bract margins spiny ..... var. hooveri

16' Outer 

bract 

Reduced, leaf- or scale-like structure subtending a branch, cone scale, peduncle, pedicel, or flower.

margin spines 0–3 pairs, inner bract spines 0 ..... var. parishii

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