Chorizanthe watsonii

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Chorizanthe watsonii
Chorizanthe watsonii (23225252370).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Chorizanthe
Species:
C. watsonii
Binomial name
Chorizanthe watsonii

Chorizanthe watsonii (kor-i-ZAN-the WAT-son-ee-eye) [1] is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Fivetooth Spineflower or Watson's Spineflower. [2] 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.

Contents

Habitat and description

Chorizanthe watsonii's small yellow flowers shown clearly surrounded by its five bracts. Chorizanthe watsonii (23225251870).jpg
Chorizanthe watsonii's small yellow flowers shown clearly surrounded by its five bracts.

It grows in many types of desert plant communities, in areas of sandy to gravelly flats and slopes and mixed grassland including Pinyon-Juniper woodland, Joshua Tree woodland, and sagebrush scrub. [2] The warmer northern Mojave Desert and the cold Great Basin Desert finds them widely distributed [3] at elevations of 300–2400m. [3] [4]

This small plant grows a woolly erect stem up to about 2-15 centimeters tall with leaves 3-20mm in length. [4] The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers surrounded by five hairy greenish to reddish bracts tipped with hooked awns 1–2 mm in length. [3] The flower is 0.5–1 cm in diameter and yellow in color and grow from April/May to July/August in the USA's summer months. [1] [2] [3] [5] Specimens observed in the northern areas of the range, (such as the south-east Washington's Palouse Prairies) usually have three stamens. [3]

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 fimbriata</i> Species of flowering plant

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

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

Chorizanthe rigida, with the common names of devil's spineflower, rigid spineflower, spiny-herb, rigid spiny-herb, is an annual plant in the family Polygonaceae the buckwheats. It is a member of the genus Chorizanthe, the spineflowers and is found in the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico, in the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Baja California, and Sonora.

<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 corrugata</i> Species of flowering 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.

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.

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 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 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 flowering 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 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.

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

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.

<i>Chorizanthe valida</i> Species of flowering 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.

<i>Oenothera primiveris</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenothera primiveris is a species of flowering plant in the evening primrose family known by the common names yellow desert evening primrose, bottle evening-primrose, and desert evening-primrose.

<i>Xylorhiza tortifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Xylorhiza tortifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names Mojave-aster and Mojave woodyaster.

Monardella exilis, with the common names Mojave monardella and desert monardella, is an annual plant in the genus Monardella of the mint family (Lamiaceae).

References

  1. 1 2 "Five-tooth spineflower". www.calflora.net. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  2. 1 2 3 "Chorizanthe watsonii Calflora". www.calflora.org. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "SEINet Portal Network - Chorizanthe watsonii". swbiodiversity.org. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  4. 1 2 "UC/JEPS: Jepson Manual treatment for CHORIZANTHE watsonii". ucjeps.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  5. "Burke Herbarium Image Collection". biology.burke.washington.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-18.