Scrophularia californica

Last updated

Scrophularia californica
Scrophulariacalifornica.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Scrophularia
Species:
S. californica
Binomial name
Scrophularia californica

Scrophularia californica is a flowering plant in the figwort family which is known by the common names California figwort and California bee plant.

Contents

It is native to the western United States, including many habitats in California, and in British Columbia.

Description

Scrophularia californica is an unassuming plant with triangular, toothed, blue-green leaves in pairs opposite each other on a spindly, squared stem.

The brownish-magenta flowers are rounded, hollow buds about a centimeter long with two long upper lobes.

Relationships with animals

This species is a strong bee attractant and also serves as a host plant for variable checkerspot larvae. [1] While bees cannot see the color red, they are nevertheless able to see the flower, likely due to their ability to sense the UV light emitted by the flowers. [2] The checkerspot is able to utilize iridoid glycosides in the sap to make its larva poisonous and adults unpalatable to predators. [3]

Human uses

Native American groups in northern Baja California have used the root of the plant to make a medicinal tea. The Pomo of northwestern California and the Ohlone of the San Francisco Bay Area used it as a poultice for infections and boils. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Eschscholzia californica</i> Species of flowering plant and state flower of California

Eschscholzia californica, the California poppy, golden poppy, California sunlight or cup of gold, is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae, native to the United States and Mexico. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant flowering in summer, with showy cup-shaped flowers in brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. It is also used as food or a garnish. It became the official state flower of California in 1903.

<i>Umbellularia</i> Genus of trees

Umbellularia californica is a large hardwood tree native to coastal forests and the Sierra foothills of California, and to coastal forests extending into Oregon. It is endemic to the California Floristic Province. It is the sole species in the genus Umbellularia.

Scrophularia ningpoensis, commonly known as the Ningpo figwort or Chinese figwort, is a perennial plant of the family Scrophulariaceae. It reaches 1 m by 0.4 m. Its flowers are hermaphrodite, insect-pollinated and the plant usually flowers in late spring.

<i>Scrophularia</i> Genus of flowering plants

The genus Scrophularia of the family Scrophulariaceae comprises about 200 species of herbaceous flowering plants commonly known as figworts. Species of Scrophularia all share square stems, opposite leaves and open two-lipped flowers forming clusters at the end of their stems. The genus is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Scrophularia marilandica</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia marilandica, also called late figwort, Maryland figwort, carpenter's square, or eastern figwort, is a flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae, native throughout eastern and central North America, where it is found growing in dry woods from Manitoba and Quebec south to Texas and Florida.

<i>Scrophularia nodosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia nodosa is a perennial herbaceous plant found in temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere except western North America. It grows in moist and cultivated waste ground.

<i>Eriodictyon californicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriodictyon californicum is a species of plant within the family Boraginaceae. It is also known as yerba santa, mountain balm, bear's weed, gum bush, gum plant, and consumptive weed. Less common names include Herbe des Montagnes, Herbe à Ourse, Herbe Sacrée, Herbe Sainte, Hierba Santa, Holy Herb, and Tarweed.

<i>Chelone glabra</i> Species of flowering plant

Chelone glabra, or white turtlehead, is a herbaceous species of plant native to North America. Its native range extends from Georgia to Newfoundland and Labrador and from Mississippi to Manitoba. Its common name comes from the appearance of its flower petals, which resemble the head of a tortoise. In fact, in Greek, chelone means "tortoise" and was the name of a nymph who refused to attend the wedding of Zeus and was turned into a turtle as punishment. Its natural habitat is wet areas, such as riparian forests and swamps.

<i>Encelia californica</i> Species of flowering plant

Encelia californica is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name California brittlebush. It is also commonly referred to as California coast sunflower and California bush sunflower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Variable checkerspot</span> Species of butterfly

The variable checkerspot or Chalcedon checkerspot is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in western North America, where its range stretches from Alaska in the north to Baja California in the south and extends east through the Rocky Mountains into Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming. The butterfly is usually brown or black with extensive white and yellow checkering and some red coloration on the dorsal wing. Adult wingspan is 3.2–5.7 cm (1.3–2.2 in). Adult butterflies feed on nectar from flowers while larvae feed on a variety of plants including snowberry (Symphoricarpos), paintbrush (Castilleja), Buddleja, Diplacus aurantiacus and Scrophularia californica.

<i>Scrophularia umbrosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia umbrosa, the green figwort, is a perennial herbaceous plant found in Europe and Asia. It grows in moist and cultivated waste ground.

S. californica may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California carpenter bee</span> Species of bee

The California carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica, is a species of carpenter bee in the order Hymenoptera, and it is native to western North America.

Scrophularia atrata is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the figwort family known by the common names black-flowered figwort and darkflowered figwort. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from a section of the Central Coast Ranges in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. It grows in the calcareous and diatomaceous soils of the coastal canyons at elevations not exceeding 500 meters. There have been 44 observed occurrences of this species, but perhaps 25 of these are historic and may no longer exist. This plant is a perennial herb producing an erect, four-sided stem up to a meter tall or slightly taller. It is somewhat hairy to densely woolly in texture. The leaves have toothed oval blades up to 10 centimeters long which are borne on long petioles. The inflorescence is a wide-open panicle with several hairy, glandular branches bearing flowers. The flower has an urn-shaped corolla with a rounded body and an open mouth at the top which is edged with hoodlike lobes. The corolla is deep, dark red to nearly black in color. The fruit is a capsule just under a centimeter long containing many seeds.

<i>Scrophularia desertorum</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia desertorum is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family known by the common name desert figwort. It is native to eastern California and Nevada, where it grows in dry areas in local mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada and the desert ranges adjacent. It is a perennial herb producing clusters of erect stems that often exceed one meter tall. The leaves have toothed, triangular or lance-shaped blades up to 13 centimeters long which are borne on petioles measuring up to 10 centimeters in length. The inflorescence is a wide-open panicle with several hairy, glandular branches bearing flowers. The flower has a spherical corolla opening at the top into a hoodlike, lobed mouth. The corolla is just under a centimeter long and is whitish at the base and deep red around the mouth and on the lobes. The staminode is generally visible in the mouth of the corolla. The fruit is a capsule just under a centimeter long containing many seeds.

<i>Scrophularia lanceolata</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia lanceolata is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family known by the common names lanceleaf figwort and American figwort. It is native to North America, where it is known from western and eastern Canada and much of the United States except for the southeastern quadrant. Past common names include Western figwort when the western US plants were grouped under the name Scrophularia occidentalis and the eastern US plants were called Scrophularia leporella with the common name hare figwort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay checkerspot butterfly</span> Subspecies of butterfly

The Bay checkerspot is a butterfly endemic to the San Francisco Bay region of the U.S. state of California. It is a federally threatened species, as a subspecies of Euphydryas editha.

<i>Scrophularia auriculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia auriculata, the shoreline figwort or water figwort, is a perennial plant of the genus Scrophularia in the family Scrophulariaceae. It is found commonly in Western Europe and North Africa, on the margins of rivers, ponds and similar damp places. It is an upright plant reaching 70 cm with blunt oval, crenate leaves in alternate pairs on the greenish–purple square stem, most leaves may have two small lobes at their base. The spikes of flowers are held stiffly on square stems which arise from the main stem in the angle of the leaf stalks. The square stems have a wing running down each corner. These wings are more obvious than on the closely related common figwort. The flowers are small, maroon-brownish and globular with two small lips above and below. The five sepals are green with a white margin, broader on the water figwort than the common figwort. The plant flowers from June to September after when the flowers produce small spherical to pear-shaped capsules containing a large number of seeds.

<i>Scrophularia sambucifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Scrophularia sambucifolia is a species of flowering plant in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae) native to the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa.

<i>Scrophularia canina</i> Species of plant

Scrophularia canina, the dog figwort or French figwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae.

References

  1. Williams, K. S., D. E. Lincoln, and P. R. Ehrlich. "The Coevolution of Euphydryas Chalcedona Butterflies and Their Larval Host Plants II. Maternal and Host Plant Effects on Larval Growth, Development, and Food-Use Efficiency." Oecologia 56.2-3 (1983): 330-35.
  2. "California Bee Plant".
  3. "Plant of the Month Page".
  4. "California Bee Plant".