Calochortus dunnii

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Calochortus dunnii
Calochortus dunnii - Flickr 005.jpg
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Calochortus
Species:
C. dunnii
Binomial name
Calochortus dunnii
Purdy

Calochortus dunnii is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name Dunn's mariposa lily.

Liliaceae family of plants

The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and about 705 known species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair amount of morphological diversity despite genetic similarity. Common characteristics include large flowers with parts arranged in threes: with six colored or patterned petaloid tepals arranged in two whorls, six stamens and a superior ovary. The leaves are linear in shape, with their veins usually arranged parallel to the edges, single and arranged alternating on the stem, or in a rosette at the base. Most species are grown from bulbs, although some have rhizomes. First described in 1789, the lily family became a paraphyletic "catch-all" (wastebasket) group of petaloid monocots that did not fit into other families and included a great number of genera now included in other families and in some cases in other orders. Consequently, many sources and descriptions labelled "Liliaceae" deal with the broader sense of the family.

Contents

Distribution

The plant is endemic to the Peninsular Ranges, native to southern San Diego County, California; and northern Baja California state, Mexico. It is known from only a few occurrences in chaparral, grassland, and Closed-cone coniferous forest habitats, at 185–1,830 feet (56–558 m) in elevation in the Cuyamaca Mountains, Laguna Mountains, and others. [2] [3]

Peninsular Ranges

The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges that stretch 1,500 km (930 mi) from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which run along the Pacific Coast from Alaska to Mexico. Elevations range from 500 to 10,834 feet.

San Diego County, California County in California, United States

San Diego County, officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the state of California, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,095,313. making it California's second-most populous county and the fifth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is San Diego, the eighth-most populous city in the United States. It is the southwesternmost county in the 48 contiguous United States.

California State of the United States of America

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.

Description

Calochortus dunnii is a perennial herb growing a slender, branching stem up to 60 centimeters tall. The waxy, channeled basal leaf is 10 to 20 centimeters long and withers at flowering.

Perennial plant Plant that lives for more than two years

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials.

Herbaceous plant Plant which has no persistent woody stem above ground

Herbaceous plants are plants that have no persistent woody stem above ground. The term is mainly applied to perennials, but in botany it may also refer to annuals or biennials, and include both forbs and graminoids.

The inflorescence bears 2 to 6 erect bell-shaped flowers. Each flower has three sepals and three white or pinkish petals. The petals are up to 3 centimeters long and spotted with red and yellow near the bases, where there are patches of yellow hairs.

Inflorescence term used in botany

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.

Sepal part of a calyx

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms. Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom. The term sepalum was coined by Noël Martin Joseph de Necker in 1790, and derived from the Greek σκεπη (skepi), a covering.

Petal Part of most types of flower

Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals, that collectively form the calyx and lie just beneath the corolla. The calyx and the corolla together make up the perianth. When the petals and sepals of a flower are difficult to distinguish, they are collectively called tepals. Examples of plants in which the term tepal is appropriate include genera such as Aloe and Tulipa. Conversely, genera such as Rosa and Phaseolus have well-distinguished sepals and petals. When the undifferentiated tepals resemble petals, they are referred to as "petaloid", as in petaloid monocots, orders of monocots with brightly coloured tepals. Since they include Liliales, an alternative name is lilioid monocots.

The fruit is a narrow, angled capsule 2 to 3 centimeters long.

Capsule (fruit) type of simple, dry rarely fleshy, dehiscent fruit

In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry, though rarely fleshy dehiscent fruit produced by many species of angiosperms.

Conservation

Although the plant isn't seriously impacted by any one major problem, [1] the main threat to the existence of this rare species is collecting by admirers of the attractive flowers. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Calochortus</i> genus of plants

Calochortus is a genus of North American plants in the lily family. The group includes herbaceous, perennial and bulbous species, all native to North America.

<i>Calochortus clavatus</i> species of plant

Calochortus clavatus is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name clubhair mariposa lily. It is endemic to California where it is found in forests and on chaparral slopes.

<i>Calochortus catalinae</i> species of plant

Calochortus catalinae is a species of mariposa lily known by the common name Santa Catalina mariposa lily.

<i>Calochortus argillosus</i> species of plant

Calochortus argillosus is a species of flowering plant in the lily family which is known by the common name clay mariposa lily.

<i>Calochortus elegans</i> species of plant

Calochortus elegans is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name elegant Mariposa lily, cat's ear, elegant cat's ears or star tulip. It is native to the western United States from northern California to Montana.

<i>Calochortus kennedyi</i> species of plant

Calochortus kennedyi is a North American species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name desert mariposa lily.

<i>Calochortus leichtlinii</i> species of plant

Calochortus leichtlinii is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Leichtlin's mariposa, smokey mariposa, and mariposa lily.

Calochortus monanthus is a presumed extinct North American species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names single-flowered mariposa lily and Shasta River mariposa lily. It was endemic to northern California.

<i>Calochortus nudus</i> species of plant

Calochortus nudus is a North American species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name naked mariposa lily.

<i>Calochortus obispoensis</i> species of plant

Calochortus obispoensis is a rare California species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name San Luis mariposa lily. It is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it grows in the chaparral of the coastal mountains, generally on serpentine soils.

<i>Calochortus palmeri</i> species of plant

Calochortus palmeri is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Palmer's mariposa lily and strangling mariposa.

<i>Calochortus persistens</i> species of plant

Calochortus persistens is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name Siskiyou mariposa lily. It is native to northern California and southern Oregon.

<i>Calochortus pulchellus</i> species of plant

Calochortus pulchellus is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name Mt. Diablo fairy-lantern or Mount Diablo globelily.

<i>Calochortus superbus</i> species of plant

Calochortus superbus is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name superb mariposa lily. It is endemic to California, a common member of the flora in several types of habitat across much of the state. It is most abundant in the Coast Ranges and in the Foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

<i>Calochortus uniflorus</i> species of plant

Calochortus uniflorus is a species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Monterey mariposa lily and large-flowered star-tulip. It is native to western Oregon and to California as far south as San Luis Obispo County. It grows in moist areas, such as meadows, in coastal hills and lower-elevation mountains. Most of the populations are found in the Coast Ranges, but some occur in the Cascades and in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

<i>Calochortus venustus</i> species of plant

Calochortus venustus is a California species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name butterfly mariposa lily.

<i>Calochortus vestae</i> species of plant

Calochortus vestae is a California species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name coast range mariposa lily. It is grows primarily in the forests of the North Coast Ranges of California, with additional populations in the southernmost Cascades in Shasta County and also in foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It generally grows in clay soils.

<i>Calochortus weedii</i> species of plant

Calochortus weedii is a North American species of flowering plants in the lily family known by the common name Weed's mariposa lily.

<i>Calochortus syntrophus</i> species of plant

Calochortus syntrophus is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Callahan's mariposa lily and clustered mariposa lily. It is endemic to northern California, where it occurs in a remote area north of Montgomery Creek in Shasta County. It has also been spotted in adjacent Tehama County. Its habitat includes open, rocky areas with moist or wet soils in oak woodland territory. It was first discovered in 1993 and its description was published the following year.

<i>Calochortus coxii</i> species of plant

Calochortus coxii is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common names Cox's mariposa lily and crinite mariposa lily. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States, where it is known only from Douglas County.

References

  1. 1 2 The Nature Conservancy
  2. ↑ CNPS: Calochortus dunnii
  3. ↑ Calflora: Calochortus dunnii
  4. ↑ Center for Plant Conservation
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