Lessingia arachnoidea

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Lessingia arachnoidea
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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]

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<i>Lessingia lemmonii</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Lessingia leptoclada</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

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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.

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<i>Packera macounii</i> Species of flowering plant

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References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  2. "Lessingia arachnoidea Calflora".
  3. California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
  4. Flora of North America
  5. Dremann, Craig Carlton. Field Notebook No.290, July–September 2020, pages 6, 23. Unpublished.
  6. Dremann, Craig Carlton. 2022 Waypoint Lab Anaheim, CA A-01 Soil Test Report 22-124-001, Data only in bar graph format of a one-quart sample taken from the top two inches and sifted through 1/4 inch mesh screen to remove rocks and vegetable material. Unpublished.