Lessingia arachnoidea | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Asterales |
Family: | Asteraceae |
Genus: | Lessingia |
Species: | L. arachnoidea |
Binomial name | |
Lessingia arachnoidea | |
Lessingia arachnoidea is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Crystal Springs lessingia. [2] It is endemic to the U.S. state of California, where it is known from a few occurrences in the vicinity of Crystal Springs Reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula and southward to serpentine soil in Woodside. It may also exist in Sonoma County to the north. [3] [4] The plant grows in chaparral, scrub, grasslands and other local plant communities, on serpentine soils.
This is an annual herb producing a slender, erect stem up to 80 centimeters in maximum height. It is woolly toward the ends of the stems, less so toward the base of the plant. The leaves are narrow and sometimes toothed, the lowest approaching 11 centimeters long and the uppermost reduced in size. The inflorescence is made up of a single flower head at the tip of the slender stem. The flower head is lined with tiny lance-shaped phyllaries with purplish pointed tips and sometimes a coat of woolly fibers. The head is discoid, lacking ray florets but bearing several funnel-shaped lavender disc florets with raylike lobes. The fruit is an achene with a very hairy hard body 2 or 3 millimeters long and a small, bristly pappus on top.
Plants need bare soil or soil without any exotic weed competition to thrive, and can even grow in the bare soil of well worn trails. Late-flowering from August to October, and one of the last of the summer California wildflowers to bloom. Plants are able to grow without any rainfall or any moisture in the ground around their roots, surviving by absorbing dewfall at night through their leaves. Ripe seeds germinate readily, 40% in three days and 80% within 15 days. When managing or restoring this species, the estimated longevity of seeds in the soil is between 100 and 250 years. [5]
Even though these plants live in serpentine soil which is known to be low in nutrients, however, these plants still require a minimum threshold of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese, iron and boron and a narrow range of pH for their seedling's survival and to grow to adults and reproduce. The pH is 7.1 and the PPM thresholds for nutrients are: N = 18, P = 5, K = 31, Ca = 391, Mg = 256, Cu = 1, Zn = 1, Fe = 26, and B = 0.02 PPM. [6]
Holocarpha macradenia, commonly known as the Santa Cruz tarplant, is an endangered plant endemic to Northern California. Alternative common names for this plant are Santa Cruz tarweed or Santa Cruz sunflower.
Eriophyllum latilobum, the 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.
Calycadenia pauciflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name smallflower western rosinweed. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows in the Coast Ranges north of the San Francisco Bay Area from Napa County to Tehama County, often on serpentine soils.
Chaenactis suffrutescens is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Shasta chaenactis.
Corethrogyne filaginifolia is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names common sandaster and California aster.
Lessingia germanorum is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name San Francisco lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from four populations in the Presidio of San Francisco and one occurrence on San Bruno Mountain south of San Francisco. It is a state and federally listed endangered species. The already rare plant is endangered by many processes, including invasive species, development, sand mining, off-road vehicles and bulldozers, habitat fragmentation, trampling, and pollution, as well as stochastic events.
Lessingia glandulifera is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name valley lessingia. It is native to California and Baja California, where it grows in several types of habitat, from forest and desert to the coastline. This is an annual herb varying in maximum size from under 10 to nearly 80 centimeters in height, growing erect to decumbent. It is hairless to very hairy and glandular. The leaves are widely lance-shaped and toothed, the lowest approaching 11 centimeters in maximum length. The upper leaves are often studded with knobby glands. The flower heads appear singly at the tips of the stem branches. Each head is lined with phyllaries covered in large glands and sometimes many hairs. The head is discoid, containing no ray florets but many funnel-shaped disc florets with lobes that resemble ray florets. The disc florets are yellow with brown throats. The fruit is an achene with a whitish pappus.
Lessingia hololeuca is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name woollyhead lessingia.
Lessingia lemmonii is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Lemmon's lessingia. It is native to the western United States around the intersection of Nevada, Arizona, and California, where it grows in desert and other habitat with sandy soils. This is an annual herb producing gray-green woolly stems in a low clump just a few centimeters high to a relatively erect 40 centimeters tall. The leaves are narrow and small, under 2 centimeters long, with much larger leaves appearing around the base of the young plant and withering away early. The flower heads appear singly or in open arrays. Each head has a bell- to bullet-shaped involucre lined with hairy to woolly phyllaries. The head is discoid, containing no ray florets but many funnel-shaped yellow disc florets with long lobes. The florets often have white markings in the throats. The fruit is an achene with a whitish or brownish pappus of bristles.
Lessingia leptoclada is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name sierra lessingia. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California, where it is known from several types of local habitat. This is a slender annual herb growing erect and varying in size from just a few centimeters to nearly a meter tall, with long, spreading branches. It is very glandular and often hairy or woolly in texture. The upper leaves are up to 5 centimeters long, narrow and sometimes toothed or lobed; the lower leaves are longer and wither early. The flower heads appear singly or in small clusters. Each head is lined with woolly phyllaries. The head is discoid, containing no ray florets but many funnel-shaped pinkish, lavender, or light bluish-purple disc florets with large lobes. The fruit is an achene with a whitish pappus of bristles.
Lessingia micradenia is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae 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.
Lessingia tenuis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name spring lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Francisco Bay Area to Ventura County. It grows on the slopes of the California Coast Ranges in common local habitat such as chaparral.
Lessingia virgata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name wand lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the eastern side of the Central Valley and adjacent Sierra Nevada foothills. It is a woolly, glandular annual herb growing up to about 60 centimeters tall with slender, spreading branches. The upper leaves are no more than a centimeter long, while the lower ones are longer and sometimes divided into lobes or teeth. The flower heads appear singly in leaf axils, each lined with purple-tipped, glandular, woolly phyllaries. The head is discoid, containing no ray florets but a few tubular light lavender to nearly white disc florets with long, narrow lobes. The fruit is an achene with a whitish pappus on top.
Monolopia gracilens is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name woodland monolopia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the mountains of the San Francisco Bay Area and ranges just to the south. It grows in grassland, chaparral, woodland, and other habitat, often on serpentine soils. It is an annual herb producing a slender, branching stem up to about 80 centimeters tall. It is usually somewhat woolly in texture. The inflorescences at the ends of stem branches bear small hemispheric flower heads. The golden ray florets are up to a centimeter long and surround a center of many disc florets. The fruit is an achene about 2 millimeters long.
Monolopia major is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name cupped monolopia.
Monolopia stricta is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Crum's monolopia. It is endemic to central California, where it grows in the Central Valley and its flanking mountain ranges and foothills. It open grasslands and chaparral, often in clay soils. It is an annual herb producing a slender, sometimes branching stem up to about 80 centimeters tall. It is usually somewhat woolly in texture. The inflorescences at the ends of stem branches bear small hemispheric flower heads. The golden ray florets are usually about 1 to 2 centimeters long, but specimens from the western San Joaquin Valley have smaller florets.
Packera eurycephala is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name widehead groundsel. It is native to a section of the western United States encompassing southern Oregon, northern California, and northern Nevada. It can be found in dry habitat types, often in disturbed areas, and it favors serpentine soils.
Packera greenei is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name flame ragwort. It is endemic to northern California, where it is known from the North Coast Ranges and southern Klamath Mountains. It is a resident of dry mountain scrub habitat, often on serpentine soils.
Packera macounii is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Siskiyou Mountains ragwort. It is native to the west coast of North America from British Columbia to far northern California, where it grows in chaparral and mountain forests, often on serpentine soils.
Ancistrocarphus filagineus is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, known by the common names woolly fishhooks and hooked groundstar. It is native to western North America, including Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, California, and Baja California.