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.
Mucronea is a genus of plants in the family Polygonaceae with two species restricted to California. Known generally as spineflowers, they are closely related to genus Chorizanthe. They are annual herbs producing slender, erect, glandular stems from taproots. The leaves are located in a rosette around the base of the stem and wither quickly. The inflorescence is an open array of flowers, each blooming in an involucre of spiny bracts lined with awn-tipped teeth. The six-lobed flowers are white to pink.
Eriogonum flavum is a species of wild buckwheat.
Chorizanthe parryi is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Parry's spineflower and San Bernardino spineflower.
Camissoniopsis bistorta is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names southern suncup and California suncup. It is native to southern California and Baja California, where it grows in several types of plant community along the coast and in the coastal hills and mountain ranges. This is a hairy annual or short-lived perennial herb spreading from a basal rosette, with stems reaching up to 80 centimeters long. The leaves are narrow and sometimes toothed, and 1 to 12 centimeters in length. Toward the end of the spreading stems are nodding inflorescences of flowers, each flower with four bright yellow petals dotted with red at their bases.
Chorizanthe staticoides is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Turkish rugging. It is endemic to California, where it is a common member of the flora in the chaparral and scrub habitats in a number of regions.
Chorizanthe blakleyi is a rare species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Blakley's spineflower. It is endemic to the Sierra Madre Mountains of Santa Barbara County, California, where it is known from only eight occurrences, four of which are within the bounds of the Los Padres National Forest. It grows only on north-facing slopes in chaparral and woodland habitat. This plant grows upright to no more than 15 centimeters tall. It is yellow-green and hairy, with a few basal leaves up to about 2 centimeters long. The inflorescence contains several flowers, each surrounded by a tube of six hairy bracts with straight or hooked awns. The flower is a few millimeters wide with white or pink deeply notched tepals.
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.
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.
Chorizanthe leptotheca is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common names Ramona spineflower and Peninsular spineflower. It is native to the Peninsular Ranges of southern California and Baja California, where it grows in chaparral and forest habitat. It is very similar to its close relative, Turkish rugging.
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 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 spinosa is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Mojave spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the scrub habitat at the western edges of the Mojave Desert.
Chorizanthe stellulata is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name starlet spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the dry woodlands of the low mountains and foothills along the central part of the state, such as the Sierra Nevada foothills. The plant takes an erect form, reaching up to 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are located at the base of the plant, and there is also a whorl of leaves at mid-stem. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of flowers, each flower surrounded by hairy, bristly white bracts tipped with hooked awns. The flower is 4 or 5 millimeters long and white to pink 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.
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.
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.
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.
