Cirsium fontinale | |
---|---|
Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Cirsium |
Species: | C. fontinale |
Binomial name | |
Cirsium fontinale | |
Synonyms [1] | |
|
Cirsium fontinale, the fountain thistle, is a flowering perennial herb in the sunflower family. It is endemic to California. The genus Cirsium is commonly known as the "thistle" genus, Cirsium being the Greek word for 'thistle.'
The species is endemic to limited regions within northern and central California, at elevations not exceeding 750 metres (2,460 ft). Occurrences appear limited to serpentine seeps and streams within the California Coast Ranges, in areas of the San Francisco Bay Area and of San Luis Obispo County.
There are three recognized varieties of this species:
All the taxa within Cirsium fontinale have erect stems with leaves very strongly wavy margins. [2] These tall plants may attain a height of 2.2 metres (7.2 ft), but may exist in the form of only 0.5 metres (1.6 ft). A given plant may have one or more stems, and the plants are sometimes short-lived, dying after flowering only once, even though the species is acknowledged to be perennial. Lower leaves are typically petioled or tapered, but mostly spiny-lobed; petioles are either spiny-lobed or toothed.
Inflorescences are characterized by prickly heads more or less grouped in a panicle-like cluster, closely subtended by the higher leaves. Involucres are either hemispheric or bell-shaped, with purple to green coloration. Phyllaries range from a lanceolate to ovate shape. There are characteristically many flowers with white, pink or lavender corollae about 20 millimeters in length.
Anther bases are sharply sagittate, with oblong tips; the ends of the styles manifest a somewhat swollen node, with a cylindrical superior appendage. The smooth brownish fruits are four to five millimeters in diameter, but distinctly ovoid; many pappus bristles are exhibited.
The 3 varieties of Cirsium fontinale have specific limited distribution ranges, and distinctive features.
Cirsium fontinale var. campylon, the Mount Hamilton thistle, is uncommon, but occurs in widely distributed locations in Santa Clara, Alameda and Stanislaus County, in the southeastern San Francisco Bay Area. [3] [4] [5] Elevations of this variety are from 300–750 metres (980–2,460 ft) in the southern Santa Clara Valley and the Diablo Range, including Mount Hamilton.
As with the other species varieties, the Mount Hamilton thistle prefers moist areas on serpentine soil slopes including seeps, riparian stream environments, and other wetlands. The California Natural Diversity Database—CNDDB lists 39 location for this variety, of which 33 are in Santa Clara County, 3 are in Alameda County and 3 are in Stanislaus County. It is a candidate for listing on the federal endangered species list.
Morphological differences of the C. f. var. campylon compared to other varieties of this species manifest first in a green stem which has a maximum height of 2 metres (6.6 ft). The leaves are densely tomentose and glandular hairs are not evident.
Compared to the other varieties, the flowering heads of C. f. var. campylon are strongly and permanently nodding; moreover, its outer phyllaries present a greenish color and have a length of 20 to 30 millimeters. The phyllaries are distinctly recurved and channeled, with the widest dimension below the middle; the upper phyllary element becoming a spine of three to five millimeters. Corolla tubes are five to six millimeters long with a throat of double the tube; lobes are four toe five millimeters and style branches are about the same size as lobes. Fruits are ovoid and smooth.
Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale, the fountain thistle, is endemic to the eastern Santa Cruz Mountains foothills within San Mateo County, in the southwestern San Francisco Bay Area. [6] It is found at elevations of approximately 120 metres (390 ft), which implies a distribution on the lower slopes of the Montara Mountain Block, within the Santa Cruz Mountains foothills. Habitats are seeps, wetlands and riparian areas associated with serpentine soils.
The California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB), maintained by the California Department of Fish and Game, lists 5 occurrences for this variety. [7] However at two of these locations, in or near Edgewood County Park, plants have not been observed for several years, and these populations are presumed extinct. One colony of C. f. var. fontinale was found in the 1980s on serpentine soil along the east side of Upper Crystal Springs Reservoir. [8] A new population was found along a creek in Redwood City within Stulsaft Park in the 2000s. Another population was found in the Town of Woodside, growing on PG&E land on the east side of I-280 between Woodside Road and Farm Hill Blvd. along a perennial stream, while conducting a vegetation survey to replacing their L-109 gas pipeline. [9] Historically this variety occurred in a broader range throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. [10]
This fontinale variety of Cirsium fontinale was the first to be listed as endangered by the state of California (July, 1979). [11] It is also a federal listed endangered species. [12]
The stem of Cirsium fontinale var. fontinale is generally less than 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) in height, and reddish in color. Leaves are distinctly glandular and thinly tomentose.
The inflorescence heads are generally nodding when in bloom, but typically are erect in the fruiting stage. The outer reddish phyllaries are 15 to 20 millimeters in size, and are somewhat recurved: these structures are wider above the middle, but abruptly tipped with a one to two millimeter spine. The corolla tube extends 10 millimeters, with a throat dimension of five to six millimeters and lobes approximately the same size; the style branches have a dimension of three to four millimeters. The ovoid fruits are smooth, and chromosomes are characterized as: 2n=34 +1.
Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense, the Chorro Creek bog thistle, occurs only in limited portions of the Santa Lucia Mountains, of the outer southern California Coast Ranges within San Luis Obispo County in central California. [13] Its occurrence is principally associated with Chorro Creek.
The CNDDB lists 13 occurrences for this variety. [12] As with the other varieties it prefers riparian or seep areas, typically on slopes. It is found at elevations less than 300 metres (980 ft). The Chorro Creek bog thistle was listed as a federally endangered species in 1994 and is classified as endangered for its entire range. [12] [14] [15]
The green to purplish stem of C. f. var. obispoense is always less than 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height, producing densely tomentose leaves, particularly for lower surfaces. When in bloom, the flowering heads have a nodding habit, but at the fruiting stage, they are erect.
The plant's outer green to dark purple phyllaries are of dimension 15 to 20 millimeters; moreover these structures are strongly recurved and somewhat channeled, with the upper half tapering to a one to four millimeter spine. The corolla tube of Chorro Creek bog thistle is seven millimeters in size with a throat ever so slightly larger; the lobes are approximately five millimeters and the style branches of approximately the same scale. Fruits are smooth, ovoid and minutely scabrous above.
Cupressus goveniana, now reclassified as Hesperocyparis goveniana, with the common names Californian cypress and Gowen cypress, is a species of cypress, that is endemic to California.
Acanthomintha duttonii is a species of annual plant endemic to San Mateo County, California in the family Lamiaceae. It is commonly called San Mateo thornmint and is found growing on serpentine soils near the Crystal Springs Reservoir in a six-mile (10 km) long strip on the east side of Montara Mountain at elevations of approximately 150 to 300 meters.
Pentachaeta bellidiflora, the white-rayed pentachaeta or whiteray pygmydaisy, is a Californian wildflower in the genus Pentachaeta of the family Asteraceae. It is included in both the state and federal lists of endangered species.
Eriophyllum latilobum or San Mateo woolly sunflower is a perennial herb of sharply limited range, endemic and occurring only in the state of California, United States. This flowering plant of the family Asteraceae has been listed as an endangered species by the U.S. federal government as well as the state of California.
Redwood Creek is a 9.5-mile-long (15.3 km) perennial stream located in San Mateo County, California, United States which discharges into South San Francisco Bay. The Port of Redwood City, the largest deepwater port in South San Francisco Bay, is situated on the east bank of Redwood Creek near its mouth, where the creek becomes a natural deepwater channel.
Cirsium neomexicanum is a North American species of thistle known by the common names New Mexico thistle, powderpuff thistle, lavender thistle, foss thistle and desert thistle.
Cirsium occidentale, with the common name cobweb thistle or cobwebby thistle, is a North American species of thistle in the sunflower family.
Cirsium andrewsii is an uncommon species of thistle known by the common name Franciscan thistle. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the coastline of the San Francisco Bay Area from Marin to San Mateo Counties. There are also reports of isolated populations in the Klamath Mountains and in the Sierra Nevada.
Cirsium ciliolatum is a species of thistle known by the common name Ashland thistle. It is endemic to the Klamath Mountains, where it is known from only a few occurrences in Jackson and Josephine Counties in Oregon, as well as neighboring Humboldt and Siskiyou Counties in California. It is related to Cirsium undulatum and may be more accurately described as a variety of that species.
Cirsium crassicaule is a species of thistle known by the common name slough thistle. It is endemic to the San Joaquin Valley of California, where it is known primarily from freshwater wetlands. It has been found in only a few locations in Kern, Kings, and San Joaquin Counties.
Cirsium cymosum is a North American species of thistle known by the common name peregrine thistle. It is native to the western United States, where it has been found in California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.
Cirsium douglasii is a species of thistle known by the common names Douglas' thistle and California swamp thistle.
Cirsium hydrophilum is a species of thistle which is endemic to California, where it is found only in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. This native thistle grows in wet boggy habitats.
Cirsium loncholepis is a rare species of thistle known by the common name La Graciosa thistle. It is endemic to California, where it is known from about 15 remaining occurrences in wetlands where southwestern San Luis Obispo County borders northwestern Santa Barbara County. It grows in coastal scrub and sand dunes, marshes, and moist grasslands in the watersheds of local rivers, including the Santa Maria River. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Cirsium ochrocentrum is a species of thistle known by the common name yellowspine thistle. It is native to the Great Plains of the Central United States and to the desert regions of the western United States and northern Mexico. Its range extends from eastern Oregon east to the Black Hills of South Dakota, south as far as the Mexican State of Durango.
Cirsium rhothophilum is a rare North American species of thistle known by the common name surf thistle. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the coastline around the border between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. It grows in sand dunes and coastal scrub near the beach.
Cirsium scariosum is a species of thistle known by the common names meadow thistle, elk thistle and dwarf thistle. It is native to much of western North America from Alberta and British Columbia south to Baja California. There are also isolated populations on the Canadian Atlantic Coast, on the Mingan Archipelago in Québec.
Lessingia micradenia is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name Mt. Tamalpais lessingia. It is endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where it occurs in areas with serpentine soils. The species is divided into two rare varieties, each with a limited occurrence on opposite sides of the Bay Area. Lessingia micradenia var. glabrata is found in several locations across Santa Clara County south of San Jose, while var. micradenia is known only from a few spots around Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.
Juncus phaeocephalus, the brown-headed rush, is native mostly along the coast of California, north to Oregon and Washington. It grows in moist seeps and shallow wet soil.
Fritillaria biflora var. ineziana, the Hillsborough chocolate lily, is a species of fritillary endemic to San Mateo County, California. It grows on serpentinite in cismontane woodland and valley and foothill grassland at elevations that range from 295 to 525 feet It is typically found on serpentine soils and it is defined as a "broad endemic" where 85-94% of occurrences are expected to occur on ultramafic soils.