Dichotomous Key to the Groups (subgenera or previously recognized genera)
of Cryptantha (Boraginaceae) in California, U.S.A.

Cryptantha Home Page

Modified from Johnston (1925), A Flora of Southern California (Munz 1974), and The Jepson Manual (Hickman 1993); after R. B. Kelley, The Jepson Manual, 2nd ed.
[NOTE: Scale bars of all photographs = 1 mm]

1. Pls annual, gen wider than tall, often rounded to cushion-like; taproot red, purple when dry (often staining herbarium paper);
    flower bracts present; gynobase as tall as nutlets, style absent

    2. Calyx basally tubular, tube circumscissile in fr ........................................................................................... Greeneocharis

    2' Calyx of distinct sepals, intact in fr ............................................................................................................... Eremocarya

1' Pls annual or perennial, gen taller than wide, rarely rounded to cushion-like; taproot usually not red, or purple when dry; flower
    bracts absent or rarely present; gynobase shorter than nutlets, style present

    3. Pls perennial; vegetative leaves basal or tufted; nutlets smooth, rugose, or scabrous; nutlet apically broadly rounded to obtuse;
        ventral groove apex well below nutlet apex ...................................................................................................... Oreocarya

    3' Pls annual or rarely perennial; vegetative leaves cauline; nutlets smooth, papillate, tuberculate, or muricate; nutlet apically
        narrowly acute to acuminate; ventral groove apex almost to nutlet apex .......................................................... "Krynitzkia"