''Chylismia claviformis'' is a species of wildflower known as browneyes or brown-eyed primrose native to North America. This species is found across western North America from the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

to northern Mexico.

Description

It is an annual plant growing from a basal rosette of long oval leaves and producing stems often exceeding half a meter in height. Atop the stem is an

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

of one to many primrose blooms, each with four white or yellow petals. The

pistil Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

may be quite long and has a bulbous stigma at the tip. The

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s are somewhat shorter and they bear long hairy anthers containing white or yellow pollen. The

floral axis The floral axis (sometimes referred to as the receptacle) is the area of the flower upon which the reproductive organs and other ancillary organs are attached. It is also the point at the center of a floral diagram. Many flowers in division Angios ...

at the junction of male and female parts is bright red to maroon or brown.

Subspecies

There are many subspecies: *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''aurantiaca'' – found in desert regions *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''claviformis'' – native to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

and nearby *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''cruciformis'' – native to the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

region *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''funerea'' – native to the Mojave Desert *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''integrior'' *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''lancifolia'' – (lanceleaf browneyes) – California east of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

*''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''peeblesii'' – (Peebles' browneyes) – found in Arizona and New Mexico * ''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''peirsonii'' – (Peirson's browneyes) – native to Southern California and northern Baja California *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''rubescens'' – native to Arizona *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''wigginsii'' *''Chylismia claviformis'' subsp. ''yumae'' – (Yuma browneyes) – found in the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
claviformis Flora of the California desert regions Plants described in 1845 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Myrtales-stub