Chorizanthe aphanantha

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Chorizanthe aphanantha
Chorizanthe aphanantha iNat-41332098.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Chorizanthe
Species:
C. aphanantha
Binomial name
Chorizanthe aphanantha
K.M.Nelson & D.J.Keil

Chorizanthe aphanantha is a critically endangered species of flowering plant in the family Polygonaceae with the common name Irish Hills Spineflower. It is endemic to the Irish Hills in San Luis Obispo County California. [1]

Contents

Description

Chorizanthe aphanantha is a low-growing tufted or mat-forming plant up to 26 cm in diameter. Stems branch from the base and are usually prostrate, each bearing a spoon-shaped leaf that is 4-8 mm long and 0.6-5 mm wide and glabrous or covered with tiny hairs. Tiny white flowers are born on short thick hairy basal stems, but are most often apparent from the spiny red and green involucre (floral bract) and fruiting structure that persists after the white petals drop. [2]

Range and habitat

Chorizanthe aphanantha grows in chaparral, usually on serpentine soils in the Irish Hills in San Luis Obispo County California. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Chorizanthe</i> Genus of flowering plants

Chorizanthe is a genus of plants in the buckwheat family known generally as spineflowers. These are small, squat, herbaceous plants with spiny-looking inflorescences of flowers. The flowers may be in shades of red or yellow to white. The bracts are pointed and sometimes tipped with a hooked awn, and the inflorescence often dries into a rounded, spiny husk. Spineflowers are found in western North America and South America.

<i>Chorizanthe orcuttiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe orcuttiana is a rare small annual plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. It is known commonly as Orcutt's spineflower or the San Diego spineflower, and it is endemic to San Diego County, California. The plant is diminutive, and a hand-lens is necessary for proper identification. The plant is very sensitive to temperature and precipitation, and under drought or hot conditions the seeds will not germinate or survive. The plant is visible anywhere from February through July during good rain year, but most years the plant is only visible from April to June. Each minute flower yields one seed.

<i>Chorizanthe brevicornu</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe brevicornu is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family which is known by the common name brittle spineflower. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it is widely distributed but is most abundant in the deserts.

<i>Chorizanthe parryi</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe parryi is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Parry's spineflower and San Bernardino spineflower.

Chorizanthe angustifolia is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name narrowleaf spineflower.

Chorizanthe biloba is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name twolobe spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Central Coast Ranges. There are two varieties, both of which are uncommon to rare.

Chorizanthe breweri is a rare species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names San Luis Obispo spineflower and Brewer's spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from about twenty occurrences in the Central Coast Ranges of San Luis Obispo and far southern Monterey Counties. It grows in the chaparral and woodlands of the range, generally on serpentine soils. This small plant produces decumbent stems extending along the ground and sometimes growing upright to a maximum length of about half a meter. The herbage is mostly reddish in color and somewhat hairy. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers, each surrounded by six hairy reddish bracts with hooked tips. The flower itself is only about 3 millimeters wide and is white to red and hairy.

<i>Chorizanthe cuspidata</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe cuspidata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name San Francisco spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the San Francisco Bay Area and to the immediate north and south. It grows in sandy coastal habitat.

Chorizanthe diffusa is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name diffuse spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it grows on the coastline and mountains of the Central Coast, in sandy scrub, woodland, and forest habitat. It is erect to prostrate in form, its stem generally no longer than 15 or 20 centimeters. The leaves are up to 2 centimeters long and mainly arranged about the base of the plant. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers, each surrounded by six hook-tipped bracts. The margins of the bracts proximal to the long hooked tip may be very thin and nearly invisible to wide and obvious, and they may be green to white to purplish. The flower itself is about 3 millimeters wide and white with a yellow throat. The tips of its tepals may be smooth or jagged or toothed.

<i>Chorizanthe douglasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names San Benito spineflower and Douglas' spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the mountains of the Southern California Coast Ranges, from the Santa Lucia Range east to the Gabilan Range.

Chorizanthe howellii is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names Mendocino spineflower and Howell's spineflower. It is endemic to coastal Mendocino County, California, where it is known only from the sand dunes and coastal scrub near Fort Bragg. It is estimated that 95% of the remaining individuals of this plant are part of a single population growing at MacKerricher State Park. It is a federally listed endangered species.

<i>Chorizanthe membranacea</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe membranacea is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name pink spineflower. It is native to Oregon and California, where it is widespread and in some areas quite common. It can be found in a wide variety of habitats.

Chorizanthe obovata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name spoonsepal spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the mountains of the Central Coast Range from Monterey to Santa Barbara Counties.

Chorizanthe palmeri is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Palmer's spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Central Coast Ranges of western Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties.

<i>Chorizanthe pungens</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe pungens is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Monterey spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Francisco Bay Area south along the Central Coast.

Chorizanthe rectispina is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names prickly spineflower and straight-awned spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from about twenty occurrences from Monterey to Santa Barbara Counties. It grows in dry habitat types such as chaparral and woodland in the hills of the Central Coast Ranges. It is a low, spreading plant with stems up to about 25 centimeters long, grayish to greenish in color and hairy in texture. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers, each flower surrounded by six hairy bracts which are grayish to pink in color and tipped with awns. One bract is longer than the others and has a straight awn, and the other smaller bracts may have hooked awns. The tiny flower at the center of the bract array is a few millimeters wide and white and yellow in color.

Chorizanthe uniaristata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name one-awn spineflower. It is endemic to central California, where it is known from several of the local mountain ranges, as well as the Central Coast.

<i>Chorizanthe watsonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Chorizanthe watsonii is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Fivetooth Spineflower or Watson's Spineflower. They are an annual herb native to the western United States including Idaho, California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Arizona, namely the Mojave Desert which runs through many of them.

Chorizantheventricosa, common name Priest Valley spineflower, is a plant species endemic to a small region in the Coastal Ranges of west-central California. It is found only on serpentine outcrops in grasslands and pine-oak woodlands at elevations of 500–1000 m. It has been reported from 4 counties: Monterey, San Benito, Fresno and San Luis Obispo.

<i>Mucronea californica</i> Species of flower plant

Mucronea californica is a rare species of annual plant in the family Polygonaceae known by the common names California spineflower or California mucronea. An ephemeral plant found growing in the sandy microhabitats of coastal sage scrub, chaparral and dunes, this plant is threatened by the urbanization and development of its viable habitat and has been locally extirpated over much of its range. It has small, white to pink flowers that top inflorescences spined with awns.

References

  1. "Chorizanthe aphanantha (Irish Hills Spineflower)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  2. 1 2 "The Jepson Herbarium".