Stanley Welsh of a Utah Flora says of Cryptantha, "This is one of the most perplexing genera in [Boraginaceae]".  William Weber, Colorado Flora, tries to make more sense of the genus by splitting off some Cryptantha into the Oreocarya genus (but few botanists agree with his division):

    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."   

    "Cryptantha" is Greek for "hidden flower" and probably refers to the very small size of the flower'

    Distinguishing one Cryptantha from another is almost always a matter of examining the tiny nutlets with a hand lens or microscope to observe their markings.  For instance, this page shows three Cryptantha.  C. pterocarya is separated from the other two by the prominent wing margins on its nutlets.  C. minima and C. crassisepala both have four nutlets per flower, but one of the nutlets has a different texture.  C minima's odd nutlet is completely smooth; C. crassisepala's odd nutlet is warty.  Doesn't sound like much to separate species, does it?

    See Oreocarya.

Semi-desert. Sandy areas, 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.

Semi-desert. Sandy areas, openings. Spring.
Near the Hogback, New Mexico, April 24, 2007.

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 nutlets is completely smooth. 

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 Cryptanthaplants.

"Pterocarya" is Greek for "winged nut" and you can see both the nut and the wings developing in the picture below.

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

The sharp-sided nutlets develop quickly.

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