Two New Combinations in Western North American Asteraceae

Two new combinations that will be used in the second edition of The Jepson Manual are proposed for western North American Asteraceae: Helianthus petiolaris subsp. canescens and Cirsium scariosum var. loncholepis

New Species of Pectis (Asteraceae) from the West Indies, Mexico, and South America

Four new species of Peetis are described: P. ericifolia from Barbuda, P. luckoviae from west-central Mexico, P. arida from Ecuador and Peru, and P. cajamarcana from Peru. Chromosome counts for P. erieifolza (n = 48) and P. luekoviae (n = 12) are presented. Relationships of the newly described taxa are discussed

Synopsis of the Florida Species of Pectis (Asteraceae)

A key, descriptions, revised nomenclature, range statements and maps ate presented for the species of Pectis known to occur in Florida. A new combination, Peetis glaucescens, is published for the plant formerly known as P. leptocephala. A naturally occurring triploid interspecific hybrid, Peetis X floridana (P. glallcescens X P. prostrata), is described and illustrated

Helianthus inexpectatus (Asteraceae), a Tetraploid Perennial New Species from Southern California

Helianthus inexpectatus is described as a new species from the Newhall Ranch of northern Los Angeles County, California. It is a tetraploid (2n = 68) perennial that is morphologically similar to--—and intermediate in some characters between--—the diploid H. nuttallii and the hexaploid H. californicus

Porophyllum pygmaeum (Asteraceae), a Distinctive New Species from Southern Nevada

Porophyllum pygmaeum is a new species from coarse calcareous soils of the Desert National Wildlife Range in Clark Co., Nevada. It has subterete leaves that contain a continuous double layer of palisade mesophyll surrounding a central area of larger, achlorophyllous, polyhedral parenchyma cells and veins. The hollow foliar oil glands lie just below the abaxial epidermis and are deeply invaginated within the parenchyma layers. Porophyllum pygmaeum is a tetraploid (n = 24) perennial herb that apparently is most closely related to P. greggii a hexaploid herbaceous species of western Texas with much longer and narrower leaves. In its fleshy subterete leaves P. tridentatum resembles the subshrubby P. tridentatum of Baja California from which it differs by its chromosome number (n = 15 in P. tridentatum) by its dwarf herbaceous habit, by leaves that are always entire and that bear several pairs of submarginal glands, and by much longer achenes. The new species apparently is not closely related to P. gracile the only other species of that occurs in southern Nevada and adjacent regions of Arizona and California

Mentzelia pectinata var. chrysopetala (Loasaceae), a yellow-petaled race from west-central California

Mentzelia pectinata Kellogg var. chrysopetala Keil & Brokaw, var. nov., is a yellow-petaled race of the otherwise orange-petaled M. pectinata, a species endemic to central California. The yellow-and orange-petaled varieties are largely allopatric, with var. chrysopetala nearly restricted to San Luis Obispo County, whereas var. pectinata extends eastward into the dry hills and mountains around the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, including eastern portions of San Luis Obispo County. Petals of var. chrysopetala are golden yellow, usually with orange bases, unlike the petals of var. pectinata, which are coppery orange with red-orange bases. We designate a neotype for M. pectinata because original material, which presumably was in CAS, apparently is no longer extant; the holotype was probably destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Mentzelia pectinata Kellogg is an annual species endemic to the southern part of California\u27s San Joaquin Valley and the surrounding hills and mountains of the South Coast Range, Transverse Range, and foothills of the southern Sierra Nevada. In spring growing seasons with abundant rainfall, these plants often form large populations, and the mass displays of their flowers form conspicuous splashes of color across the landscape. The species exhibits two strikingly different flower color forms. Plants from a large part of its range have coppery-orange petals with red-orange bases. Plants from the southern Diablo Range through central San Luis Obispo County and south-central Monterey County have golden yellow petals, usually with orange bases. Taxonomic treatments of these plants have varied. Kellogg (1863) originally described Mentzelia pectinata with flowers of a shining golden color, with a lustrous metallic hue. shading from a deep, vivid orange to a burnt carmine center. Jepson (1925, 1936) treated M. pectinata as part of a broadly defined M. gracilenta Torr. & A.Gray, describing the petals of the species as yellow with orange base. Munz (1959) recognized M. pectinata and described the petals as orange above, coppery-red toward base. Hoover (1970) treated the orange-flowered plants as M. pectinata and the yellow-flowered plants as M. gracilenta. He noted that that flower color appears to be the only reliable differentiation between the two kinds of plants, but that they are distinct ecologically, geographically, and apparently genetically. Brokaw (2016) distinguished diploid M. pectinata from tetraploid M. gracilenta using several characters, including (1) orange petals (in most collections of M. pectinata, absent in M. gracilenta), (2) bracts with white bases (in most collections of M. gracilenta, absent in M. pectinata), and (3) elevation/habitat (M. pectinata occurs at lower elevations than M. gracilenta where the ranges overlap in San Luis Obispo County)