Arizona Jewel Flower - Streptanthus carinatus arizonicus
Pony Hills, New Mexico, USA
In amongst the petroglyphs at the Pony Hills site I found an Arizona Jewel Flower, Streptanthus carinatus arizonicus, in late March, 2015. The species (Lyreleaf Jewelflower) has a range limited to Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (one record) in the United States and in Baja California and Chihuahua in Mexico. There are two subspecies, the one shown here and the nominate form. It is also called Arizona Twistflower.
This flower blooms early (February to April) in well drained sandy and rocky soils (which this area abounds in).
The subspecies was first described by Serano Watson (1826 to 1892) in 1890 as Streptanthus arizonicus and later as Disaccanthus arizonicus by Edward L. Greene. Still later it was designated as the subspecies by Kruckeberg, Rodman, and Worthington. At that time it was lumped with Streptanthus carinatus, which was first described by Charles (Carlos) Wright from a specimen he collected 60 miles below El Paso in March 1852. The image to the right is an Isotype collected by Wright at the same time - now maintained by the Missouri Botanical Garden. When Wright collected the specimen he was serving as the surveyor and botanist on the Mexican Boundary Survey (1851-1853).
The specimen which is used to first classify a species is called the Holotype. An Isotype is a duplicate specimen to the Holotype, collected on the same day and at the same location.
Immediately above and below: Ready Pay Gulch, East of Hillsboro, NM, USA - 30 March 2017
