Herbs, annual or biennial, multi-stemmed from base, glabrous, pedicels and leaves of offsets sometimes ciliate. Stems erect or horizontal proximally and erect distally, simple or branched, bearing elevated rosettes. Leaves alternate, ascending, sessile; blade yellow-green (rosette leaves with 5 green to purple veins), not glaucous, oblong-elliptic, oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate, or ovate, subterete, 4.4-14 × 1.8-3 mm (somewhat longer and wider on flowering shoots), base short-spurred, scarious, apex acuminate or acute, (unlobed to 3-lobed on flowering shoots, surfaces sometimes ciliate marginally, papillose). Flowering shoots erect or slightly recurved, simple, 5.5-19 cm, (sometimes ciliate, papillose); leaf blades lanceolate, base spurred (spurs unlobed or 3-lobed); offsets caducous, axillary. Inflorescences cymes, 4-25-flowered, 3-branched; branches recurved or not, sometimes dichotomously forked; bracts similar to leaves, smaller. Pedicels to 1 mm, (sometimes ciliate, papillose). Flowers 5-merous; sepals erect, distinct, green to yellow, lanceolate or ovate, equal, ca. 1.5-3.5 × 0.8-2 mm, (base broadly spurred), apex acuminate or acute, (sometimes papillose apically); petals spreading, distinct, white, creamy white, or yellow, elliptic-lanceolate, carinate basally, 5-11 mm, apex acute with mucronate appendage; filaments white; anthers yellow, orange, or red; nectar scales orange or yellow, square. Carpels stellately spreading in fruit, connate basally, straw colored streaked with reddish brown. 2n = 16.
Home