Selenia jonesii var. obovata Rollins

Plants winter annuals, (not or rarely subacaulescent). Stems (not inflated into crown), ascending or subdecumbent, (0.5-)1-3(-4) dm. Basal leaves rosulate; petiole 1-2.5 cm; blade margins 2-pinnatisect, 4-8 cm; lobes 4-11 on each side, (smaller than terminal); apical segment linear to oblong or ovate, 1-6 × 0.5-2.5 mm, margins entire. Cauline leaves (and bracts) similar to basal, smaller distally. Fruiting pedicels: some from basal leaf axils, (10-)20-40(-50) mm. Flowers: sepals spreading, oblong, 4-6(-7) × 1.5-2.5 mm, apex appendage developed, 0.5-0.8 mm; petals spatulate, 4-7 × 2.5-4 mm, apex rounded or emarginate; median filament pairs 3-4 mm, not dilated basally; anthers ovate, 1-1.5 mm; gynophore 1-3 mm. Fruits globose or, rarely, obovoid, terete, 0.8-1.5 cm × 8-14 mm, (not fleshy, papery), base usually obtuse, rarely cuneate, apex obtuse; valves obscurely reticulate-veined; replum not flattened; septum complete; ovules 8-14 per ovary; style 1-2(-3) mm, not flattened basally. Seeds 4-5 mm diam.; wing 1-1.5 mm. 2n = 24.

Flowering Mar-Apr. Dry lake beds, draws, moist swales, prairie plateaus, playa lakes, buffalo wallows; 0-1100 m; Tex.

Selenia jonesii is endemic to six counties in the western Edwards Plateau. Variety obovata is reduced herein to synonymy because the alleged difference in fruit shape does not hold; it appears to be an artifact of pressing inflated fruit.