Cryptantha

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the borage family Boraginaceae}} {{Distinguish|text=''Cryptanthus''}} {{Automatic taxobox |image = Cryptanthamuricata.jpg |image_caption = ''Cryptantha muricata'' |taxon = Cryptantha |authority = Lehm. ex G.Don |type_species = ''Cryptantha glomerata'' |type_species_authority = |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = about 200, see text. }}

'''''Cryptantha''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. They are known commonly as '''cat's eyes''' and '''popcorn flowers''' (the latter name is also used to refer to the closely related genus ''Plagiobothrys'',<ref name=has>Hasenstab-Lehman, K. E. and M. G. Simpson. (2012). [http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/publications/Hasenstab_Simpson2012-Cryptantha-Boraginac.pdf Cat's eyes and popcorn flowers: phylogenetic systematics of the genus ''Cryptantha'' s. l. (Boraginaceae).] ''Systematic Botany'' 37(3), 738-57.</ref> and members of the subtribe of ''Amsinckiinae'').<ref>{{cite web |title=''Amsinckiinae'' |url=http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/amsinckiinae/ |website=www.sci.sdsu.edu |access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> They are distributed throughout western North America and western South America, but they are absent from the regions in between.<ref name=has/>

These are annual or perennial herbs usually coated in rough hairs and bearing rounded flower corollas that are almost always white, but are yellow in a few species.<ref name=has/> Several morphological characters are used to distinguish species from one another, but the most definitive is the form of the nutlet, which varies in shape, size, color, and pattern of attachment.<ref name=has/>

==Species== The genus has been reorganized several times. {{As of|2024|March}}, Plants of the World Online accepts about 110 species:<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Cryptantha'' Lehm. ex G.Don {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30000489-2 |access-date=2024-03-19 |website=Plants of the World Online |language=en}}</ref> *''Cryptantha abata'' I.M.Johnst. *''Cryptantha affinis'' – slender catseye, common cryptantha, quill cryptantha *''Cryptantha alfalfalis'' *''Cryptantha alyssoides'' *''Cryptantha ambigua'' – basin cryptantha, obscure cryptantha, Wilke's cryptantha<ref>[http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php?ID=2749 WTU Herbarium]</ref> *''Cryptantha aprica'' *''Cryptantha arenophila'' Rebman & M.G.Simpson *''Cryptantha argentea'' *''Cryptantha barbigera'' — bearded catseye *''Cryptantha bridgesii'' (Phil.) Brand *''Cryptantha buchtienii'' Brand [[File:Cryptantha fendleri (4048568427).jpg|thumb|right|''Cryptantha fendleri'']] *''Cryptantha calycina'' *''Cryptantha calycotricha'' *''Cryptantha capituliflora'' *''Cryptantha catalinensis'' M.G.Simpson & Rebman *''Cryptantha chaetocalyx'' *''Cryptantha clandestina'' *''Cryptantha clemensae'' Payson *''Cryptantha clementina'' Rebman & M.G.Simpson *''Cryptantha clevelandii'' – Cleveland's cryptantha *''Cryptantha clokeyi'' – Clokey's cryptantha *''Cryptantha congesta'' *''Cryptantha crassisepala'' – deertongue, thick-sepal catseye *''Cryptantha crinita'' – Sacramento cryptantha *''Cryptantha cycloptera'' (Greene) Greene *''Cryptantha cynoglossoides'' [[File:Cryptantha pterocarya 1.jpg|thumb|right|''Cryptantha pterocarya'']] *''Cryptantha decipiens'' – gravel cryptantha, gravel-bar catseye *''Cryptantha dichita'' *''Cryptantha diffusa'' *''Cryptantha dimorpha'' *''Cryptantha dissita'' *''Cryptantha dolichophylla'' *''Cryptantha dumetorum'' – bush-loving catseye *''Cryptantha echinella'' – hedgehog cryptantha, prickly cryptantha *''Cryptantha echinosepala'' J.F.Macbr. *''Cryptantha excavata'' – deepscar cryptantha [[File:Cryptantha scoparia (7162017689).jpg|thumb|right|''Cryptantha scoparia'']] *''Cryptantha fendleri'' – Fendler's cryptantha, sand-dune catseye *''Cryptantha filaginea'' *''Cryptantha filiformifolia'' J.F.Macbr. *''Cryptantha filiformis'' *''Cryptantha flaccida'' – weakstem cryptantha *''Cryptantha foliosa'' [[Image:Cryptanthaclevelandii.jpg|thumb|right|''Cryptantha clevelandii'']] *''Cryptantha ganderi'' – Gander's cryptantha *''Cryptantha glareosa'' *''Cryptantha globulifera'' *''Cryptantha glomeriflora'' – Truckee cryptantha *''Cryptantha glomerulifera'' *''Cryptantha gnaphalioides'' *''Cryptantha gracilis'' – narrowstem catseye, narrowstem pick-me-not *''Cryptantha grandiflora'' Rydb. *''Cryptantha granulosa'' *''Cryptantha haplostachya'' *''Cryptantha hispida'' (Phil.) Reiche *''Cryptantha hispidissima'' Greene *''Cryptantha hispidula'' – Napa cryptantha *''Cryptantha hooveri'' – Hoover's cryptantha *''Cryptantha incana'' – Tulare cryptantha *''Cryptantha intermedia'' – Clearwater catseye, common cryptantha *''Cryptantha involucrata'' thumb|right|Cryptantha utahensis *''Cryptantha juniperensis'' R.B.Kelley & M.G.Simpson *''Cryptantha kelseyana'' – Kelsey's cryptantha *''Cryptantha kingii'' *''Cryptantha kinkiensis'' Rebman & M.G.Simpson *''Cryptantha latefissa'' *''Cryptantha leiocarpa'' – coastal cryptantha *''Cryptantha limensis'' *''Cryptantha linearis'' *''Cryptantha longifolia'' *''Cryptantha longiseta'' (Phil.) Brand *''Cryptantha macrocalyx'' *''Cryptantha marioricardiana'' *''Cryptantha mariposae'' – Mariposa cryptantha *''Cryptantha maritima'' – Guadalupe catseye *''Cryptantha marticorenae'' *''Cryptantha martirensis'' *''Cryptantha mendocina'' *''Cryptantha microstachys'' – Tejon cryptantha *''Cryptantha milobakeri'' – Milo Baker's cryptantha *''Cryptantha minima'' – little catseye, small cryptantha *''Cryptantha mohavensis'' – Mojave cryptantha *''Cryptantha multicaulis'' A.Nelson *''Cryptantha muricata'' – pointed catseye, prickly cryptantha *''Cryptantha nemaclada'' : Colusa cryptantha *''Cryptantha nevadensis'' : Nevada catseye *''Cryptantha oxygona'' – sharpnut cryptantha, sharpseed cryptantha *''Cryptantha papillosa'' *''Cryptantha patagonica'' *''Cryptantha patula'' *''Cryptantha peruviana'' *''Cryptantha phaceloides'' *''Cryptantha pondii'' Greene *''Cryptantha pterocarya'' – winged pick-me-not, wingnut catseye *''Cryptantha recurvata'' – curvenut catseye *''Cryptantha romanii'' *''Cryptantha rostellata'' – beaked catseye *''Cryptantha scoparia'' – desert cryptantha, pinyon desert cryptantha *''Cryptantha simulans'' – pine cryptantha, pinewoods cryptantha *''Cryptantha spathulata'' *''Cryptantha subamplexicaulis'' *''Cryptantha taltalensis'' *''Cryptantha texana'' *''Cryptantha torreyana'' – Torrey's catseye *''Cryptantha traskiae'' – Trask's cryptantha *''Cryptantha utahensis'' – scented catseye, Utah cryptantha *''Cryptantha varians'' Brand *''Cryptantha vidali'' *''Cryptantha virens'' *''Cryptantha volckmannii'' *''Cryptantha watsonii'' – Watson's cryptantha *''Cryptantha werdermanniana'' *''Cryptantha wigginsii''

===Formerly placed here===

Many ''Cryptantha'' species have been transferred to other genera:<ref name=sdsu>Simpson, M. G. and the Plant Systematics Lab, SDSU. [http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/cryptantha/ Cryptantha s.l. Taxonomy & Images.] Based upon Hasenstab-Lehman, K. E. and M. G. Simpson. (2012).</ref> *''Cryptantha angustifolia'' → ''Johnstonella angustifolia'' *''Cryptantha cana'' → ''Oreocarya cana'' *''Cryptantha cinerea'' → ''Oreocarya suffruticosa'' var. ''setosa'' *''Cryptantha circumscissa'' → ''Greeneocharis circumscissa'' *''Cryptantha confertiflora'' → ''Oreocarya confertiflora'' *''Cryptantha crassipes'' → ''Oreocarya crassipes'' *''Cryptantha flavoculata'' → ''Oreocarya flavoculata'' *''Cryptantha humilis'' → ''Oreocarya humilis'' *''Cryptantha jamesii'' → ''Oreocarya suffruticosa'' var. ''suffruticosa'' *''Cryptantha micromeres'' → ''Johnstonella micromeres'' *''Cryptantha nubigena'' → ''Oreocarya nubigena'' *''Cryptantha pustulosa'' → ''Oreocarya suffruticosa'' var. ''pustulosa'' *''Cryptantha roosiorum'' → ''Oreocarya roosiorum'' *''Cryptantha subcapitata'' → ''Oreocarya subcapitata'' *''Cryptantha virginensis''→ ''Oreocarya virginensis''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Cryptantha Category:Flora of Northern America Category:Flora of Southern America Category:Boraginaceae genera