Limnanthes

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Limnanthes
Limnanthes douglasii.jpg
Limnanthes douglasii
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Limnanthaceae
Genus: Limnanthes
R.Br.
Species

7; see text

Limnanthes, the type genus of the family Limnanthaceae, consists of annual herbaceous plants commonly known as the meadowfoams. The seven species are all native to coastal and adjoining regions (inland valleys, foothills and mountains) of western North America, where they typically grow in marshy habitats, such as the margins of vernal pools. Some are endemic to California.

General form ranges from decumbent to erect, with leaves either pinnately lobed or compound; the lobes or leaflets may themselves range from entire to deeply lobed. Both 4- and 5-sepaled and petaled members are known.

The white meadowfoam Limnanthes alba is of commercial interest for its oil, while several other species are rare or endangered. Honey produced by bees that pollinate Limnanthes alba has the distinct flavor of toasted marshmallows. [1]

L. douglasii is widely cultivated as a hardy annual, its white and yellow flower colour giving it the common name of poached egg plant.

Species

The genus is divided into two sections, Limnanthes, in which the sepals reflex (curve back) during fruit maturation, and Inflexae, in which the sepals curve over the maturing fruit.

Section Limnanthes:

Limnanthes bakeri
Limnanthes douglasii
Limnanthes macounii
Limnanthes vinculans

Section Inflexae:

Limnanthes alba
Limnanthes floccosa
Limnanthes montana

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<i>Limnanthes douglasii</i> Species of flowering plant

Limnanthes douglasii is a species of annual flowering plant in the family Limnanthaceae (meadowfoam) commonly known as Douglas' meadowfoam or poached egg plant. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in wet, grassy habitat, such as vernal pools and spring meadows. It can grow in poorly drained clay soils. The plant was collected by the Scottish explorer and botanist David Douglas, who worked on the west coast of America in the 1820s.

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<i>Limnanthes alba</i> Species of flowering plant

Limnanthes alba is a species of flowering plant in the meadowfoam family known by the common name white meadowfoam. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows in wet grassy habitat, such as vernal pools and moist spots in woodlands. It generally grows in poorly drained soils. It is an annual herb producing an erect or decumbent stem up to about 30 centimeters long. The leaves divided into several lobed or unlobed leaflets. The flower is cup-shaped with white petals 1 to 1.5 centimeters long.

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<i>Limnanthes vinculans</i> Species of flowering plant

Limnanthes vinculans, the Sebastopol meadowfoam, is an endangered species of meadowfoam found only in the Laguna de Santa Rosa in Sonoma County, California, United States and an area slightly to the south in the Americano Creek and Washoe Creek watersheds. The name vinculans derives from the Latin root vinculum, meaning "a bond, a cord." The specific epithet vinculans means linking or bonding, in reference to the sharing of some characters of L. vinculans with L. douglasii (R.Br) and L. bakeri.

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Blennosperma bakeri is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Baker's stickyseed and Sonoma sunshine.

<i>Limnanthes floccosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Limnanthes floccosa, or woolly meadowfoam, is a species of meadowfoam found in Northern California and Southern Oregon, in the United States. Most of the subspecies have highly restricted distributions and are listed as critical or endangered.

Limnanthes montana is a species of meadowfoam known by the common name mountain meadowfoam. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, where it grows in wet, grassy habitat such as marshy spring meadows.

Limnanthes striata was formerly a species of meadowfoam known by the common name foothill meadowfoam. It has recently been subsumed into the species Limnanthes douglasii in both the Jepson Manual and the Flora of North America. This plant is endemic to California, where it is known from the Sierra Nevada foothills and the southern Klamath Mountains. It grows in wet, grassy habitat, carpeting the edges of vernal pools and ephemeral creeks.

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References

  1. "Meadowfoam Pollination | Bee Informed Partnership". beeinformed.org. Retrieved 2018-09-06.