Single Record
Participant Info
- Species
- Mertensia ciliata var. longipedunculata [Mertensia ambigua] [Mertensia paniculata] [Mertensia umbratilis]
- Family
- Boraginaceae
- CommonName
- wandering bluebells
- Presence
- maybe
- Status
- native
- EarliestDate
- 1938
- LatestDate
- 1995?
- Ecosystem
- montane, subalpine
- Geobotanical
- Garitas, SSanjuans
- Counties
- Conejos, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache
- Passes
- WildlifePreserves
- Other Localities
- PhotoRecords
- Comments
- Among Mertensia in the Watershed, this taxon is closest to M. ciliata, both having lateral leaf veins and pustules (or papillae) on the upper side of leaves. The taxon is distinguished by its branched inflorescence clearly situated above the stem leaves by at least the length of the longest leaf. So far the taxon has puzzled experts. Ackerfield includes it in her key for Mertensia as "Mertensia ambigua," citing the revision of Mertensia by Mare Nazaire for FNA. Later Ackerfield said that M. ambigua was synonymous with "Mertensia ciliata var. longipedunculata" (personal communication, 4 Oct 2023). Yet most recently Nazaire said she left out "Mertensia ambigua" from her FNA revision as "a difficult entity," perhaps synonymous with M. paniculata (personal communication, 13 Jan 2024). Meanwhile her revision of Mertensia is yet to appear in FNA. Currently the only voucher of "Mertensia ambigua" in SEINet is from Fremont Co, Idaho (2018). Older vouchers of the taxon were most likely determined as M. ciliata var. longipedunculata. Online review of photographed vouchers of M. ciliata in SEINet suggests that by whatever name the taxon is probably present at least in Conejos, Rio Grande, Mineral, and Saguache counties, that is, in the Garitas and southern San Juan mountains of the Valley. (See, for example, the voucher collected by G. Curtis on 23 July 1995 from Lily Pond in Conejos Co, symbiota ID 19797004.) An incomplete hands-on review of vouchers of "Mertensia ciliata" in the Adams State herbarium suggest that one early specimen of this taxon is dated 1938, from "Wason" in Rio Grande Co, perhaps Wason Park or Wason Ranch near Creede. Because so many herbarium specimens of Mertensia remain unreviewed, the Colorado and USA distributions of the taxon cannot be drawn yet.
- Annotation