Photo © Christine Lorain CLICK PHOTO FOR A LARGER IMAGE

Triantha occidentalis (S. Watson) Gates ssp. brevistyla (C. L. Hitchc.) Packer

Short-style Tofieldia

Liliaceae (Lily family)

Synonym: Tofieldia glutinosa (Michaux.) Pers. ssp. brevistyla (C.L. Hitchc.); and includes Tofieldia glutinosa (Michaux.) Pers. var. absona (Hitchc.) Davis.

General Description: Short-style Tofieldia is a perennial forb, 10-60 cm tall, with a tuft of flat and narrow basal leaves 5-20 cm long by 3-8 mm wide. The inflorescence is comprised of small terminal clusters of white to green-white flowers. The tepals all appear similar, although the inner set averages 4.2 mm long, a little longer than the outer set, which averages about 3.8 mm long. The upper stem and inflorescence are covered with numerous glandular hairs about twice as long as thick. Fruits are 4-9 mm long, with the seeds enclosed in a spongy testa and usually having appendages.

Field Identification Tips: The genus is recognized by its small, whitish, lily-like flowers, long leaves, and strongly glandular-hairy stems. Subspecies brevistyla is usually a robust plant with numerous basal leaves and stems in a single clump.

Phenology: Flowers June to August.

Photo © Christine Lorain CLICK PHOTO FOR A LARGER IMAGE

Similar Species: Technical differences between the three subspecies of Triantha occidentalis are slight. Subspecies brevistyla is distinguished by its outer tepals averaging 3.8 mm long and inner tepals 4.2 mm long, and having hairs of the upper stem and inflorescence about twice as long as thick, tapered, and semi-papillose (with short, rounded, blunt projections). In comparison, subspecies montana has outer tepals averaging 3.5 mm and inner tepals 4 long mm, and relatively slender hairs 3-4 times as long as thick. The subspecies occidentalis is not known east of the Sierra Nevada. It is generally a taller plant 60-80 cm tall with longer styles. Triantha glutinosa is separated from members of the T. occidentalis complex based on differences in stem pubescence and the seeds. Triantha glutinosa has conical glands, versus the more cylindric hairs in T. occidentalis. It also has the testa of the seed more or less tightly appressed to the seed body, versus the loose, white, spongy, inflated testa around the seed body for T. occidentalis.

Habitat: Wet meadows, streambanks, and peatlands.

Global Distribution: Southern Alaska and western British Columbia, south in the Olympic and Cascade Mountains to southern Oregon, and eastward to southeastern British Columbia and Idaho.

Idaho Distribution: The Priest Lake area in Bonner County, and scattered populations further south in Clearwater, Idaho, and Valley counties.

References:

Bursik, R. J., and R. K. Moseley. 1995. Report on the conservation status of Tofieldia glutinosa var. absona. Unpublished report prepared for the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Conservation Data Center, Boise, ID. 9 pp.

Packer, J. G. 1993. Two new combinations in Triantha (Liliaceae). Novon 3: 278-279.