Checklist » Ranunculaceae » Myosurus minimus
Last updated 6/27/2023 by David Giblin.
Myosurus minimus L.[FNA3, HC, HC2]
tiny mouse-tail

Publication: Sp. Pl. 1: 284. 1753.

Origin: Native

selected vouchers: WTU

Notes: FNA3: "Plants of Myosurus minimus from a few sites in coastal southern California, northern Baja California, and immediately west of Riley, Oregon, sometimes have short scapes, so that the heads of achenes are immersed in the leaves. These plants, which have been called M . minimus subsp. apus (Greene) G. R. Campbell, M. minimus var. apus Greene, or M. clavicaulis M. E. Peck, are indistinguishable from some recombinant lines found in M. minimus × sessilis hybrid swarms (see discussion under M. sessilis ), but they occur outside the current range of M. sessilis. D. E. Stone (1959) has suggested that they resulted from past hybridization between the two species, perhaps at a time when M. sessilis had a wider range than it does now."

Washington Natural Heritage Program recognizes M. clavicaulis as a distinct taxon and considers it Sensitive in Washington.

References: (none)

Synonyms & Misapplied Names:
Myosurus lepturus Greene
Myosurus lepturus Greene var. filiformus (Greene) Greene, orthographic variant
Myosurus minimus L. ssp. major (Greene) G.R. Campb.
Myosurus minimus L. var. filiformus Greene, orthographic variant
Myosurus minimus L. var. major (Greene) K.C. Davis