Cryptantha

Cryptantha is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. They are known commonly as cat's eyes and popcorn flowers (the latter name is also used to refer to the closely related genus Plagiobothrys,^[1] and members of the subtribe of Amsinckiinae).^[2] They are distributed throughout western North America and western South America, but they are absent from the regions in between.^[1]

These are annual or perennial herbs usually coated in rough hairs and bearing rounded flower corollas that are almost always white, but are yellow in a few species.^[1] Several morphological characters are used to distinguish species from one another, but the most definitive is the form of the nutlet, which varies in shape, size, color, and pattern of attachment.^[1]

Species

The genus has been reorganized several times. As of March 2024^[update], Plants of the World Online accepts about 110 species:^[3]

Cryptantha abata I.M.Johnst.
Cryptantha affinis – slender catseye, common cryptantha, quill cryptantha
Cryptantha alfalfalis
Cryptantha alyssoides
Cryptantha ambigua – basin cryptantha, obscure cryptantha, Wilke's cryptantha^[4]
Cryptantha aprica
Cryptantha arenophila Rebman & M.G.Simpson
Cryptantha argentea
Cryptantha barbigera — bearded catseye
Cryptantha bridgesii (Phil.) Brand
Cryptantha buchtienii Brand

Cryptantha calycina
Cryptantha calycotricha
Cryptantha capituliflora
Cryptantha catalinensis M.G.Simpson & Rebman
Cryptantha chaetocalyx
Cryptantha clandestina
Cryptantha clemensae Payson
Cryptantha clementina Rebman & M.G.Simpson
Cryptantha clevelandii – Cleveland's cryptantha
Cryptantha clokeyi – Clokey's cryptantha
Cryptantha congesta
Cryptantha crassisepala – deertongue, thick-sepal catseye
Cryptantha crinita – Sacramento cryptantha
Cryptantha cycloptera (Greene) Greene
Cryptantha cynoglossoides

Cryptantha decipiens – gravel cryptantha, gravel-bar catseye
Cryptantha dichita
Cryptantha diffusa
Cryptantha dimorpha
Cryptantha dissita
Cryptantha dolichophylla
Cryptantha dumetorum – bush-loving catseye
Cryptantha echinella – hedgehog cryptantha, prickly cryptantha
Cryptantha echinosepala J.F.Macbr.
Cryptantha excavata – deepscar cryptantha

Cryptantha fendleri – Fendler's cryptantha, sand-dune catseye
Cryptantha filaginea
Cryptantha filiformifolia J.F.Macbr.
Cryptantha filiformis
Cryptantha flaccida – weakstem cryptantha
Cryptantha foliosa

Cryptantha ganderi – Gander's cryptantha
Cryptantha glareosa
Cryptantha globulifera
Cryptantha glomeriflora – Truckee cryptantha
Cryptantha glomerulifera
Cryptantha gnaphalioides
Cryptantha gracilis – narrowstem catseye, narrowstem pick-me-not
Cryptantha grandiflora Rydb.
Cryptantha granulosa
Cryptantha haplostachya
Cryptantha hispida (Phil.) Reiche
Cryptantha hispidissima Greene
Cryptantha hispidula – Napa cryptantha
Cryptantha hooveri – Hoover's cryptantha
Cryptantha incana – Tulare cryptantha
Cryptantha intermedia – Clearwater catseye, common cryptantha
Cryptantha involucrata

Cryptantha juniperensis R.B.Kelley & M.G.Simpson
Cryptantha kelseyana – Kelsey's cryptantha
Cryptantha kingii
Cryptantha kinkiensis Rebman & M.G.Simpson
Cryptantha latefissa
Cryptantha leiocarpa – coastal cryptantha
Cryptantha limensis
Cryptantha linearis
Cryptantha longifolia
Cryptantha longiseta (Phil.) Brand
Cryptantha macrocalyx
Cryptantha marioricardiana
Cryptantha mariposae – Mariposa cryptantha
Cryptantha maritima – Guadalupe catseye
Cryptantha marticorenae
Cryptantha martirensis
Cryptantha mendocina
Cryptantha microstachys – Tejon cryptantha
Cryptantha milobakeri – Milo Baker's cryptantha
Cryptantha minima – little catseye, small cryptantha
Cryptantha mohavensis – Mojave cryptantha
Cryptantha multicaulis A.Nelson
Cryptantha muricata – pointed catseye, prickly cryptantha
Cryptantha nemaclada : Colusa cryptantha
Cryptantha nevadensis : Nevada catseye
Cryptantha oxygona – sharpnut cryptantha, sharpseed cryptantha
Cryptantha papillosa
Cryptantha patagonica
Cryptantha patula
Cryptantha peruviana
Cryptantha phaceloides
Cryptantha pondii Greene
Cryptantha pterocarya – winged pick-me-not, wingnut catseye
Cryptantha recurvata – curvenut catseye
Cryptantha romanii
Cryptantha rostellata – beaked catseye
Cryptantha scoparia – desert cryptantha, pinyon desert cryptantha
Cryptantha simulans – pine cryptantha, pinewoods cryptantha
Cryptantha spathulata
Cryptantha subamplexicaulis
Cryptantha taltalensis
Cryptantha texana
Cryptantha torreyana – Torrey's catseye
Cryptantha traskiae – Trask's cryptantha
Cryptantha utahensis – scented catseye, Utah cryptantha
Cryptantha varians Brand
Cryptantha vidali
Cryptantha virens
Cryptantha volckmannii
Cryptantha watsonii – Watson's cryptantha
Cryptantha werdermanniana
Cryptantha wigginsii

Formerly placed here

Many Cryptantha species have been transferred to other genera:^[5]

Cryptantha angustifolia → Johnstonella angustifolia
Cryptantha cinerea → Oreocarya suffruticosa var. setosa
Cryptantha circumscissa → Greeneocharis circumscissa
Cryptantha confertiflora → Oreocarya confertiflora
Cryptantha crassipes → Oreocarya crassipes
Cryptantha flavoculata → Oreocarya flavoculata
Cryptantha humilis → Oreocarya humilis
Cryptantha jamesii → Oreocarya suffruticosa var. suffruticosa
Cryptantha micromeres → Johnstonella micromeres
Cryptantha nubigena → Oreocarya nubigena
Cryptantha pustulosa → Oreocarya suffruticosa var. pustulosa
Cryptantha roosiorum → Oreocarya roosiorum
Cryptantha subcapitata → Oreocarya subcapitata
Cryptantha virginensis→ Oreocarya virginensis

References

^ a b c d Hasenstab-Lehman, K. E. and M. G. Simpson. (2012). Cat's eyes and popcorn flowers: phylogenetic systematics of the genus Cryptantha s. l. (Boraginaceae). Systematic Botany 37(3), 738-57.
^ "Amsinckiinae". www.sci.sdsu.edu. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
^ "Cryptantha Lehm. ex G.Don | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
^ WTU Herbarium
^ Simpson, M. G. and the Plant Systematics Lab, SDSU. Cryptantha s.l. Taxonomy & Images. Based upon Hasenstab-Lehman, K. E. and M. G. Simpson. (2012).

External links

Media related to Cryptantha at Wikimedia Commons