A taxonomic study of Jamesia (Hydrangeaceae)

Jamesia (Hydrangeaceae) is endemic to western North America from the southern Rocky Mountains in southeastern Wyoming and Colorado west across the Great Basin to the southern Sierra Nevada and south through New Mexico and southeastern Arizona to Chihuahua and Nuevo León. Its distinctiveness and Oligocene fossil record suggest that it is an old genus. The genus comprises five geographically distinct taxa that can be grouped into two species. One of these,Jamesia americana, is further divided into four varieties, the second of which is new, and the fourth of which assumes a name older than that in current use:J. americana var.americana, var.zionis, var.macrocalyx, and var.rosea. The second species,J. tetrapetala, is new.