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    Cryptanthas and Oreocaryas are lovely plants with an abundance of tiny flowers, hairy leaves, and persisting dried flower stems. 

     Colorado plant authority William Weber breaks the traditional Cryptantha genus into Cryptantha and Oreocarya and research supports this division.

    Stanley Welsh (A Utah Flora) says of Cryptantha, "This is one of the most perplexing genera in [Boraginaceae]", but Welsh (and Intermountain Flora) recognize only the Cryptantha genus.

    Flora of the Four Corners Region and Flora Neomexicana III also recognize only Cryptantha.

    John Kartesz, the ultimate authority for plant names on this web site, accepts both Cryptantha and Oreocarya.

    Weber separates the two genera as follows:    

    Oreocarya: "Biennial or perennial from rosettes of basal leaves; flowers more than 5 mm in diameter, often distinctly long-tubular with prominent yellow eye".

     Cryptantha: "Annual without rosettes of basal leaves; flowers minute, less than 5 mm diameter, short-tubed with inconspicuous eye".

    Once you have placed a specimen in either genus, it is often still difficult to determine the exact species, for although some species have clearly observable unique characteristics that make for relatively easy identification, for many species one needs a detailed botanical key which separates the species on the basis of the shape and markings on the mature tiny nutlet, observable only with a hand lens or microscope.

     "Oreos" is Greek for "mountain" and "caryum" is Greek for "nut".

     "Crypt antha" is Greek for "hidden flower" and probably refers to the very small size of the flower.

     The Cryptantha genus was named by Lehman in 1837 and the Oreocarya genus was named by Edward Greene in 1887.

Cryptantha crassisepala
Cryptantha crassisepala var. elachantha (Thick-sepal Cat's Eye)
Boraginaceae (Forget-Me-Not Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, woodlands, openings. Spring.
Near the Hogback, New Mexico, April 24, 2007.

This little guy can dot large areas of sand and Mancos Shale with hundreds of plants.  It has numerous stems, each producing numerous, tiny, white flowers.  

John Torrey and Asa Gray named this plant Eritrichium crassisepalum in 1857 and Edward Greene renamed it Cryptantha crassisepala in 1887.  "Crass" is Latin for thick. "Elach antha" is Latin for "small flower".

                              Cryptantha crassisepala

Cryptantha crassisepala

Cryptantha crassisepala

Cryptantha crassisepala
Cryptantha crassisepala (Thick-sepal Cat's Eye)
Boraginaceae (Forget-Me-Not Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, woodlands, openings. Spring.
Lower Cross Canyon, April 10, 2016.

The young Cryptantha crassisepala shown in the top two photographs at left and above are less than two inches tall but at maturity they will elongate to as much as 6 inches tall, as shown in the third photograph at left.

Cryptantha crassisepalaSpreading hairs abound.

Flowers are in a spike but this inflorescence form only becomes obvious when the plants have matured and elongated, as shown at right.

 

Flowers produce the typical 4 nutlets, with one larger and not as roughened as the the others.

Plants grow in sandy soils in semi-desert shrublands and woodlands from about 4,000' to 7,000'.

 

Cryptantha minima
Cryptantha minima (Little Cat's Eye)
Boraginaceae (Forget-Me-Not Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, woodlands, openings. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 5, 2005.

Tiny plants can give great pleasures. 

Cryptantha minima often grows near Cryptantha crassisepala and is distinguished from it by at least two characteristics: its flowers have bracts and one of its four nutlets is completely smooth. 

 

 

Cryptantha pterocarya
Cryptantha pterocarya (Winged-nut Cat's Eye)
Boraginaceae (Forget-Me-Not Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, woodlands, openings. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 5, 2005.

This slender Cryptantha is common in Pinyon/Juniper woodlands, but may be hard to spot. The plant has few stem leaves and basal leaves fade as tiny white flowers open.  Look under Junipers and Pinyons and you will find dozens of these plants, typically only two-to-five inches tall.  In the open, as in the photograph at left, the plant can grow to twenty inches tall. 

The ball-like flower cluster of Cryptantha pterocarya does not elongate in the typical coil of other Cryptantha plants.

"Pterocarya" is Greek for "winged nut" and you can see both the nut and the wings developing in the picture below.
Cryptantha pterocarya
Cryptantha pterocarya (Winged-nut Cat's Eye)
Boraginaceae (Forget-Me-Not Family)

Semi-desert. Shrublands, woodlands, openings. Spring.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, April 5, 2005.

The sharp-sided nutlets develop quickly within the green capsules.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Cryptantha crassisepala  

Range map for Cryptantha minima

Range map for Cryptantha pterocarya