Species: Cryptantha celosioides (Eastw.) Payson

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Cryptantha celosioides (Eastw.) Payson

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Boraginaceae

Genus:

Cryptantha

Species Synonyms:

Cryptantha bradburiana Payson
Cryptantha macounii (Eastw.) Payson
Cryptantha nubigena var. macounii (Eastw.) Boivin
Cryptantha sheldonii (Brand) Pasión
Oreocarya celosioides Eastw.
Oreocarya glomerata (Parsh) Greene, non Lehm. ex Fisch.
Oreocarya macounii Eastw.
Oreocarya sheldonii Brand

Common Names:

buttecandle
minerscandle
clustered oreocarya
cryptanthe

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

southern British Columbia - southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan:

southern Saskatchewan; Matador - Roche Percee

Ecoregion:

Mixed Grassland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

open, sandy grassland slopes

Associated Species:

broomweed, creeping juniper, goldenweed, rayless aster

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Endangered

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S1

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Buttecandle is endangered in Saskatchewan because of extreme rarity. This plant grows in a fragile environment and in areas of planned developments.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

10 – 40 cm

Roots:

taproot woody

Stem:

base of stem simple or branched; erect stems 1 – several, stout, densely bristly-hairy

Leaves:

basal and on the stem; basal leaves several, tufted, tapered to a stalk, 2 – 7 cm long, 5 – 10 mm wide, grade into lower stem leaves, spoon-shaped to spatula shaped, tip obtuse, greyish green, bristly-hairy, woolly and with small blisters at the base of the hairs above and below, margin entire; stem leaves alternate, sessile, to 3 cm long, to 0.5 cm wide, slightly reduced upwards, spoon-shaped to elliptic, tip acute to obtuse, greyish green, bristly-hairy

Inflorescence:

spike leafy, several-flowered, cylindrical to branched with age, occupying 2/3 to 3/4 of upper stem

Flower:

sepals 8 – 10 mm long, densely bristly-hairy; petal limbs 7 – 11 mm long, white with yellow eye

Fruits:

nutlets 4, 3 – 4 mm long, dull to glossy

CRYPTANTHA KEY FOR VARIETIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Perennial; taproot woody; stems simple or branched from base; conspicuous tuft of basal leaves; inflorescence unbranched; petals 6 – 11 mm wide, conspicuous	C. celosioides
1 Annual; taproot slender; stems often diffusely branched; lacking a conspicuous tuft of basal leaves; branched, spike-like inflorescence with one main axis; petals less than 2 mm wide, minute	2

2 Inflorescence bracted throughout, bracts longer than sepals; sepal lobes long with thick, hardened, whitish mid-nerves	C. minima
2 Inflorescence bracted only below, bracts not conspicuous, lacking in upper flowers; sepal lobes short, neither whitened nor thickened	3

3 Nutlets all similar, all smooth or nearly so	C. fendleri
3 Nutlets of two types, one large and smooth, three smaller and bumpy	C. kelseyana