Besseya arizonica

General: Perennial, 10-40 cm tall; stems appearing scapose, mostly solitary, erect, simple, tomentose, becoming sparsely strigose to nearly glabrous; roots fibrous. Leaves: Basal and cauline, alternate, basal blades ovate, 5-15 cm long, 3-7 cm wide, sparsely pilose to nearly glabrous, margin crenate to crenate-undulate, base rounded to cordate, cauline blades similar, but much reduced, margin entire to irregularly crenate; basal blades petiolate, cauline blades sessile to shortly petiolate. Flowers: Inflorescence a cyme, tightly congested, globose to cylindric in outline, mostly 10-30 flowered; peduncle and pedicels glandular-pubescent, the glandular tips yellowish; pedicels 0.5-1.5 mm long; hypanthium top- to cup-shaped; sepals usually 5, deltate-ovate, 0.8-2.5 mm long, green, occasionally purple-tipped; petals usually 5, elliptic, obovate, or oblanceolate, 2-4 mm long, white, apex shallowly notched, base slightly to prominently clawed; filaments filiform to awl-shaped, 0.6-2.6 mm long; flowers April-August. Fruits: Loculicidal capsule, nearly circular, 4-5 mm long, glabrous. Ecology: Moist meadows, ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests; 2100-2900 m (7000-9500 ft); Apache and Coconino counties; southwestern U.S. Notes: Besseya plantaginea (White River coraldrops) is distinguished by having wedge-shaped leaf bases; corolla is 5-8 mm long, white to purplish; capsules are 5-6 mm long. It occurs in meadows and on wooded slopes. Plantago spp. are superficially similar to Besseya spp., but the former lack cauline leaves. Editor: Springer et al. 2008