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Key to families | Table of families and genera




Robert Patterson & Richard R. Halse

Annual, fleshy. Stem: prostrate or reclined, many-branched, brittle; angles ± glabrous, bristly, or generally with hooked prickles. Leaf: cauline, lower opposite, upper alternate; petioles generally winged, clasping; blade pinnate-lobed, uppermost reduced, short-petioled, generally deltate, 3-lobed, with small, sharp bristles both surfaces. Inflorescence: terminal, axillary, opposite leaves, or flowers 1; pedicels present. Flower: calyx lobes hairy, bristly-ciliate; corolla rotate, lobes ± = tube, generally hairy; stamens included, equal, equally attached; ovary bristly-hairy, chamber appearing 1, style 1, 2-lobed in distal 1/2. Fruit: capsule, spheric, stout-bristly-hairy. Seed: 1–8, spheric, brown, pitted or honeycombed.
3 species: California, Arizona, Baja California. (Greek: scale mouth)
Unabridged references: [Constance 1939 Bull Torrey Bot Club 66:341–352]

Key to Pholistoma

1. Calyx sinus appendages 0; calyx not enclosing mature fruit ..... P. membranaceum

1' Calyx sinus appendages present; calyx enclosing mature fruit

2. Petiole narrow-winged; style 1–3 mm; seeds 1–2 mm ..... P. racemosum

2' Petiole wide-winged; style 4–8 mm; seeds 2–3 mm ..... P. auritum

3. Corolla < 10 mm wide ..... var. arizonicum

3' Corolla 10–30 mm wide ..... var. auritum

