A New, Large-Flowered Variety ofEremocarya micrantha(Boraginaceae)

Abstract

Abstract Eremocarya (Boraginaceae), a resurrected segregate of the genus Cryptantha, has recently been recognized as containing two species: E. lepida and E. micrantha. These two species differ in nutlet shape, nutlet size, and features of the corolla, including limb width, presence or absence of a prominent yellow coloration at the fornices of the corolla center, and, perhaps most importantly, presence or absence of distinctive “fornix bodies” at the corolla mouth. Here we present evidence for a large-flowered form of E. micrantha that we argue should be treated as a new taxonomic variety, which we call E. micrantha var. pseudolepida. In nutlet morphology, E. micrantha var. pseudolepida is very similar to E. micrantha var. micrantha and different from E. lepida. Eremocarya micrantha var. pseudolepida differs from E. micrantha var. micrantha and is similar to E. lepida in corolla limb diameter and in having a tendency to possess a prominent yellow coloration in the corolla throat. However, E. micrantha va...