Taxonomic history Bentham to Gray This plant was first described by
George Bentham in 1844 as
Maurandya juncea, from a type specimen collected by
Richard Brinsley Hinds (or George Barclay, under Hinds's direction) during the voyage of the
HMS Sulphur, which was exploring the
Pacific coast of
North America. The plant is described as
glabrous. The locality cited is: "From
San Diego to the
Bay of Magdalena." In 1860
Albert Kellogg described the monotypic genus
Saccularia veatchii based on material collected on
Cedros Island by
John A. Veatch. Kellogg notes the similarity of
Saccularia to the Peruvian genus
Galvezia of
Dombey, suggesting that they are closely allied, but kept them separated based on the morphological differences between their styles and
stigmas. Kellogg describes
Saccularia as
glandular pubescent. Because of the difference in pubescence between Kellogg's
Saccularia and Bentham's
M. juncea, for a few years both taxa were considered distinct. In 1867
Asa Gray reclassified
M. juncea as
Antirrhinum junceum. On making the transfer, Gray noted that he did not actually see the specimens, but he thought it seemed to be a
congener of
Antirrhinum speciosum. In 1886, John Ball of the
Linnean Society, with information from correspondence with Gray, discussed the relationship of
Galvezia and
Antirrhinum and reclassified
A. junceum into
Galvezia juncea, noting that the morphology of the
corolla was more similar to
Galvezia limensis because the lower lip is nearly or quite plane. Ball and Gray recognized Kellogg's
Saccularia as a synonym. Gray is sometimes erroneously cited as having produced the name
Galvezia juncea in 1887, as Ball's transfer was overshadowed by Gray's reporting on the new combination several months later, which did not include a mention of Ball's name. In 1916 Brandegee described
Galvezia rupicola, also from the Cape region. He distinguished it from
G. juncea on the basis of a different habit, glandular hairs, and broad, persistent leaves. Brandegee collected the specimens at the rocky promontory of
Cabo San Lucas and at Saucito in Baja California Sur. In 1924
Ivan M. Johnston described and combined a new series of varieties for
Galvezia juncea based on information from expeditions to the islands of the
Gulf of California in 1921. Johnston described
G. juncea var.
foliosa from San Felipe and several Gulf islands, distinguishing it from the typical species on the basis of well-developed foliage with long leaves and glabrous stems. Brandegee's
Galvezia speciosa var.
pubescens was recombined into
G. juncea var.
pubescens, which Johnston found on
Angel de la Guarda and
Espiritu Santo islands.
Galvezia glabrata was reduced into a synonym of Johnston's
G. juncea var.
foliosa. The
typical form of
G. juncea was reported as a glabrate plant with reduced leaves found over the western part of the peninsula. In 1926
Philip A. Munz reviewed
Galvezia juncea as part of his work on the
Antirrhineae of the
New World. Munz described the typical form as
G. juncea var.
typica, characterized by reduced or almost lacking leaves, and glaucous, broomlike stems, and inferred the type locality from the HMS
Sulphur at
San Quintin. Munz treated
Galvezia rupicola as a synonym of
G. juncea var.
pubescens. He also noted that the varieties were variable and
intergraded with each other, and some even had characteristics from two varieties on one plant.
Rothmaler to Sutton In 1943,
Werner Rothmaler revived Kellogg's
Saccularia as a distinct genus and recognized three species,
Saccularia juncea,
Saccularia glabrata, and
Sacculara rupicola.
Subdivisions and synonymy Gambelia juncea has a wide range of morphological variability. The size of the foliage, habit, and amount of hair varies across populations. == Distribution and habitat ==