''Oreocarya'' (perennial cat's-eye) is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution.
The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...
. There are about 63 species and its native range extends from western and central Canada, through western United States to north Mexico.
It is part of subtribe of ''Amsinckiinae''.
It was once thought to be a either a subgenus or synonym of ''
Cryptantha'' ,
as they both had plenty of tiny flowers, hairy leaves, and persisting dried flower stems.
Botanist
William Alfred Weber later noted that the 2 genera were different in form as ''Oreocarya'' was a "biennial or perennial from rosettes of basal leaves; flowers more than 5 mm in diameter, often distinctly long-tubular with prominent yellow eye", while ''Cryptantha'' was an "annual without rosettes of basal leaves; flowers minute, less than 5 mm diameter, short-tubed with inconspicuous eye".
Description
They are
perennial
In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...
or
biennial
Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years.
In particular, it can refer to:
* Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and t ...
,
plants
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...
. Most species are perennials but a few (such as ''O. setosissima'' and ''O. virgata'') are biennial.
Species of ''Oreocarya'' have a
taproot
A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...
, with branching and a simple or branching
caudex
A caudex (: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695
In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is most ...
, which has a rosette of leaves at the top. From this the flowering stem rises. The herbaceous stem is various among the species, but generally the stems are foliate or bracteate, with branches bearing several helicoid
cymes
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis ( ped ...
(as flowers). Most species have linear, spatulate (spoon shaped) or oblanceolate shaped leaves, with entire margins and a (leaf) blade that is gradually narrowed to a long, slender petiole. The flower (or inflorescence) is an open, rounded, leafy bracteate
thyrsus
In Ancient Greece a ''thyrsus'' () or ''thyrsos'' (; ) was a wand or staff of giant fennel ('' Ferula communis'') covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with '' taeniae'' and topped with a pine cone, artichoke, fennel, or by a ...
or a
helicoid
The helicoid, also known as helical surface, is a smooth Surface (differential geometry), surface embedded in three-dimensional space. It is the surface traced by an infinite line that is simultaneously being rotated and lifted along its Rotation ...
shaped
cyme.
Taxonomy
The Latin
specific epithet
In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
''Oreocarya'' is derived from "Oreos" which is Greek for "mountain" and "caryum" is Greek for "nut".
It was first published by
Edward Lee Greene
Edward Lee Greene (August 20, 1843–November 10, 1915) was an American botanist known for his numerous publications including the two-part ''Landmarks of Botanical History'' and the describing of over 4,400 species of plants in the American W ...
in Pittonia vol.1 on page 57 in 1887.
In 1887, several species found in the genus ''
Eritrichium'' were segregated out by Greene. Genus ''Allocarya'' was formed, then the genera ''Piptocalyx'', ''Eremocarya'' and ''Oreocarya'' were formed. ''Oreocarya'' had nine former species from the genus ''Eritrichium''.
In 1896, Greene described 8 more species (of ''Oreocarya'') and in 1899 he added 2 more species and then in 1901, he added another 2 species of ''Oreocarya'' to the genus.
Other botanical authors (including
Alice Eastwood
__NOTOC__
Alice Eastwood (January 19, 1859 – October 30, 1953) was a Canadian American botanist. She is credited with building the botanical collection at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. She published over 310 scient ...
and
Per Axel Rydberg
Per Axel Rydberg (July 6, 1860 – July 25, 1931) was a Swedish-born, American botanist who was the first curator of the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium.
Biography
Per Axel Rydberg was born in Odh, Västergötland, Sweden and emigrated to ...
, added more species to the genus up until 1916.
In 1916,
Macbride carried out a revision of the genus (which had 45 species by then). Then in 1924,
Ivan M. Johnston wrote that the genus of ''Oreocarya'' could be combined with ''Cryptantha''.
Payson in 1927 (A Monograph of the section ''Oreocarya'' of ''Cryptantha'', Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 14:211-358) agreed with Johnston and all the species of ''Oreocarya'' became ''Cryptantha'' species. More species were found up until 1969 and also placed in the ''Cryptantha'' genus.
In 2012, the
phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...
relationship of members of the genus ''Cryptantha'' was carried out, based on
dna sequencing
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ...
analyses, it was then
proposed that the resurrection of the following genera ''
Eremocarya'', ''
Greeneocharis'', ''
Johnstonella'', and also ''Oreocarya''. Weber and Wittman (2012) then placed all perennial species of ''Cryptantha'' back in the genus ''Oreocarya''. Botanist John Kartesz from Missouri Botanical Garden Press agreed with the re-classification, as part of the Biota of North America Program (BONAP) in 2015.
Species
There are 63 accepted species listed by Kew,
and the Biota of North America Program.
[
*'' Oreocarya abortiva''
*'' Oreocarya aperta''
*'' Oreocarya atwoodii''
*'' Oreocarya bakeri''
*'' Oreocarya barnebyi''
*'' Oreocarya breviflora''
*'' Oreocarya caespitosa''
*'' Oreocarya cana''
*'' Oreocarya capitata''
*'' Oreocarya compacta''
*'' Oreocarya confertiflora''
*'' Oreocarya crassipes''
*'' Oreocarya creutzfeldtii''
*'' Oreocarya crymophila''
*'' Oreocarya elata''
*'' Oreocarya flava''
*'' Oreocarya flavoculata''
*'' Oreocarya fulvocanescens''
*'' Oreocarya glomerata''
*'' Oreocarya grahamii''
*'' Oreocarya hoffmannii''
*'' Oreocarya humilis''
*'' Oreocarya hypsophila''
*'' Oreocarya insolita''
*'' Oreocarya interrupta''
*'' Oreocarya johnstonii''
*'' Oreocarya jonesiana''
*'' Oreocarya leucophaea''
*'' Oreocarya longiflora''
*'' Oreocarya mensana''
*'' Oreocarya nubigena''
*'' Oreocarya oblata''
*'' Oreocarya ochroleuca''
*'' Oreocarya osterhoutii''
*'' Oreocarya palmeri''
*'' Oreocarya paradoxa''
*'' Oreocarya paysonii''
*'' Oreocarya propria''
*'' Oreocarya revealii''
*'' Oreocarya rollinsii''
*'' Oreocarya roosiorum''
*'' Oreocarya rugulosa''
*'' Oreocarya salmonensis''
*'' Oreocarya schoolcraftii''
*'' Oreocarya semiglabra''
*'' Oreocarya sericea''
*'' Oreocarya setosissima''
*'' Oreocarya shackletteana''
*'' Oreocarya sobolifera''
*'' Oreocarya spiculifera''
*'' Oreocarya stricta''
*'' Oreocarya subcapitata''
*'' Oreocarya subretusa''
*'' Oreocarya suffruticosa''
*'' Oreocarya tenuis''
*'' Oreocarya thompsonii''
*'' Oreocarya thyrsiflora''
*'' Oreocarya tumulosa''
*'' Oreocarya virgata''
*'' Oreocarya virginensis''
*'' Oreocarya weberi''
*'' Oreocarya welshii''
*'' Oreocarya wetherillii''
]
Distribution
It is found in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
(within the provinces of Alberta
Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
) in the United States (within the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) and also in northern Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. This plateau covers an area of 336,700 km2 (130,000 mi2) within w ...
and the Great Basin
The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...
of the U.S.
Ecology
Most species grow in xerophytic habitats at middle elevations. Only a few species can tolerate growing in the shade of overhanging trees or shrubs.
Some species grow in sandy deserts (''O. jamesii''), on alpine slopes (such as ''O. weberi'', ''O. crymophile'' and ''O. thompsonii''), ''O. virginensis'', ''O. rugulosa'' and ''O. semiglabra'' can tolerate clay soils, but no species grows in moist and undrained soils.
References
Other sources
* Cronquist, A. et al. 1972-. Intermountain flora.
* Johnston, I. M. 1927. Studies in the Boraginaceae VI. A revision of the South American Boraginoideae. Contr. Gray Herb. 78:31.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15938374
Boraginaceae genera
Plants described in 1887
Flora of Alaska
Flora of Western Canada
Flora of the Northwestern United States
Flora of the Southwestern United States
Flora of the South-Central United States
Flora of Northeastern Mexico
Flora of Northwestern Mexico