CUCULLATA ssp. CUCULLATA

Synonym : Villadia jimulcensis  G.L.Nesom (1988)

Distribution : Mexico (Coahuila, Nuevo León); dry rocks, on limestone and gypsum, 1200 - 2400 m.

Description (according to IHSP, 2003) :

Herbs.

Roots tuberously thickened, to 1 cm in diameter.

Stems few, often solitary, annual, erect, stiff, 20 – 50 (-90) cm, basally reddish or densely striped with red, above sometimes pure red, base short, woody-persistent, to 7 mm in diameter.

Leaves mostly strongly ascending, subulate, acute, pointed, papillose towards tips, spurred, lower leaves 10 - 35 x 2 - 4 (-7) mm, upper leaves becoming smaller and smaller, pale green.

Inflorescences dense thyrses, or spicate above, 5 - 20 (-40) cm, with 25 - 100 (-150) short clustered branches with 1 - 2 (-5) flowers, pedicels (almost) lacking.

Flowers : Sepals triangular-lanceolate, apically papillose, all almost equal, 2 - 4 x 0.6 - 1.3mm, green or violet, corolla almost closed and enclosing stamens and carpels, petals elliptic-oblong, 3 - 5 mm, weakly keeled, red or yellow with red or orange pattern, tube 1 - 2 mm, lobes erect, cucullate, rounded, margins near tips papillose to finely denticulate, without mucro.

Cytology : n = 11

V.  jimulcensis is here placed in synonymy according to Moran & Uhl (1998). A plant needing further studies but sirnilar to V. cucullata with brownish corollas and a chromosome number of n = 10 is reported from NW Querétaro by Uhl & Moran (1999).