Chorizanthe howellii

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Chorizanthe howellii
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Chorizanthe
Species:C. howellii
Binomial name
Chorizanthe howellii
Goodman

Chorizanthe howellii is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names Mendocino spineflower and Howell's spineflower. [1] 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. [2] It is a federally listed endangered species.

Polygonaceae family of plants

The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum, and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name refers to the many swollen nodes the stems of some species have. It is derived from Greek; poly means many and goni means knee or joint.

Endemism ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Mendocino County, California County in California, United States

Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841. The county seat is Ukiah.

This is a decumbent or spreading species, growing hairy stems along the ground up to about 10 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers, each surrounded by a starlike array of six spreading white bracts tipped with straight brown awns. The flower itself is a few millimeters wide and white to pale pink in color. [3] [4] [5]

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.

Bract

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture. Typically, they also look different from the parts of the flower, such as the petals or sepals. The state of having bracts is referred to as bracteate or bracteolate, and conversely the state of lacking them is referred to as ebracteate and ebracteolate, without bracts.

Threats to this species have historically included off-road vehicle use, trampling by people on foot and horseback, non-native plant species such as the iceplant Carpobrotus edulis and beachgrass Ammophila arenaria . [2] These impacts have been reduced in the state park with a ban on off-road vehicles, limiting foot and horse traffic, and removal of non-native plant species. [2]

Off-road vehicle

An off-road vehicle is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, a flexible suspension, or even caterpillar tracks. Other vehicles that do not travel public streets or highways are generally termed off-highway vehicles, including tractors, forklifts, cranes, backhoes, bulldozers, and golf carts.

Introduced species

An introduced species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are called invasive species. The impact of introduced species is highly variable. Some have a negative effect on a local ecosystem, while other introduced species may have no negative effect or only minor impact. Some species have been introduced intentionally to combat pests. They are called biocontrols and may be regarded as beneficial as an alternative to pesticides in agriculture for example. In some instances the potential for being beneficial or detrimental in the long run remains unknown.

<i>Carpobrotus edulis</i> species of plant

Carpobrotus edulis is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus Carpobrotus, native to South Africa. It is also known as Hottentot-fig, ice plant, highway ice plant or pigface and in South Africa as the sour fig.

Related Research Articles

MacKerricher State Park

MacKerricher State Park is a state park in California in the United States. It is located three miles north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County. It covers nine miles of coastline and contains several types of coastal habitat, including beaches, dunes, headlands, coves, wetlands, tide pools, forest, and a freshwater lake.

<i>Thelypodium howellii</i> species of plant

Thelypodium howellii, the Howell's thelypody or Howell's thelypodium, is a rare plant of the Western United States. It is endemic to a relatively small area on the borders of three western States: Oregon, Nevada, and California.

<i>Chorizanthe</i> genus of 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 brevicornu</i> species of 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 fimbriata</i> species of plant

Chorizanthe fimbriata, the fringed spineflower, is an annual plant in the Polygonaceae family, the buckwheats. It is a member of the genus Chorizanthe, the spineflowers, and is native to southern California and northern Baja California.

<i>Chorizanthe parryi</i> species of 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 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 corrugata</i> species of plant

Chorizanthe corrugata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name wrinkled spineflower. It is native to the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and two states of northwest Mexico, Baja California and Sonora.

<i>Chorizanthe cuspidata</i> species of 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 membranacea</i> species of 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.

<i>Chorizanthe pungens</i> species of 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.

<i>Chorizanthe robusta</i> species of plant

Chorizanthe robusta is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It is endemic to California, where it is a rare, federally listed endangered species.

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 valida</i> species of plant

Chorizanthe valida is a rare species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Sonoma spineflower. It is endemic to West Marin, Marin County, California, where it is known from only one remaining natural population at Point Reyes National Seashore. It was thought to be extinct until 1980 when the Point Reyes population was discovered.

Chorizanthe wheeleri is a rare species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names Santa Barbara spineflower and Wheeler's spineflower. It is endemic to Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands, two of the Channel Islands of California.

<i>Montia howellii</i> species of plant

Montia howellii is a species of flowering plant in the Montiaceae family known by the common names Howell's miner's lettuce and Howell's montia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to northern California, where it grows in moist to wet habitat, including vernal pools and meadows. It sometimes grows in shallow standing water such as puddles. The species is known from fossilized seeds recovered from sediments of the Pleistocene Tomales Formation. In a later paper by Herbert Mason published in 1934, Montia howellii was identified as one of the species comprising the Millerton Flora at Tomales.

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.

Grindelia howellii, Howell's gumweed, is a North American species of flowering plants in the daisy family. It is native to the northwestern United States, in the States of Idaho and Montana.

References

  1. ↑ Calflora taxon report, Chorizanthe howellii Goodman Howell's spineflower, Mendocino spineflower
  2. 1 2 3 US Fish & Wildlife Service, Arcata. Howell's Spineflower: Five-year Review. September, 2007.
  3. ↑ Goodman, George Jones. 1934. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 21(1): 44–45 descriptions in English and Latin, commentary in English
  4. ↑ Goodman, George Jones. 1934. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 21(1): plate 3, figure 1 photo of herbarium specimen of Chorizanthe howellii
  5. ↑ Flora of North America, Chorizanthe howellii


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