Jepson Interchange (more information)
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora.
| Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange |
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TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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Jepson Interchange (more information) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
Annual, biennial, perennial herb, rarely dioecious, taprooted or rhizome generally slender
Leaves simple, generally opposite; stipules generally 0; petiole generally 0; blade entire, sheath generally 0
Inflorescence: cyme, generally open; flowers few–many or flower solitary and axillary; involucre generally 0
Flower generally bisexual, radial; hypanthium sometimes present; sepals generally 5, ± free or fused into a tube, tube generally herbaceous between lobes or teeth; awns generally 0; petals generally 5 or 0, generally tapered to base (or with claw long, blade expanded), entire to 2–several-lobed, blade generally without scale-like appendages (inner surface), generally without ear-like lobes at base; stamens generally 10, generally fertile, generally free, generally from ovary base; nectaries generally 0; ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, placentas basal or free-central, styles 2–5 or 1 and 2–3-branched
Fruit: capsule or utricle (rarely modified, dehiscent), generally sessile
Seeds: appendage generally 0
Genera in family: 85 genera, 2400 species: widespread, especially arctic, alpine, temp, n hemisphere; some cultivated (Agrostemma, Arenaria, Cerastium, Dianthus, Gypsophila, Lychnis, Saponaria, Silene, Vaccaria ).
Annual, perennial herb, erect or ± prostrate, taprooted
Leaf: stipules 1–6 mm, lanceolate to ovate, scarious, ± entire, white; blade elliptic to oblanceolate; vein ± 1
Inflorescence: clusters axillary; flowers 1–12 per cluster, dense; pedicels 0–2 mm
Flower: hypanthium cup-shaped; calyx sometimes abruptly expanded above; sepals 5, free, 0.7–4.4 mm (except awn), lanceolate to ovate, ± hairy, margin narrow, white, scarious; awn thread-like to stiff, wavy to stiff; petals 0; fertile stamens 5, sterile stamens 0 or 5, 0.5–1 mm, thread-like, arising from hypanthium rim; styles 2 or 2-branched in upper 1/2, 0.2–0.5 mm
Fruit: utricle, ovoid to spheric
Seed 1, brown
Species in genus: 50 species: worldwide
Etymology: (Greek: inflammation of finger, especially beneath nail [whitlow], from ailment the plant was believed to cure)
Reference: [Chaudhri 1968 Meded Bot Mus Herb Rijks Univ Utrecht 285:64–297]
| Introduced |
Perennial, mat-forming; taproot > 3 mm diam
Stem prostrate, 5–50 cm, ± concealed by leaves
Leaf: stipules 3–6 mm; petiole 5–10 mm, ± elliptic to oblanceolate, ± smooth, green, generally moderately hairy; tip a bristle; margin green
Flowers 2–6, axillary, 2–2.3 mm, sparsely hairy near tip; hairs 0.3–0.6 mm, ± straight; sepals 1.2–1.3 mm (except awns), oblong to ovate, margin ± 1 mm wide, awned from tip, awn 0.5–0.7 mm, ± straight, slender, erect; sterile stamens 0
Seed 1–1.2 mm, ± spheric
Ecology: Grassy hills
Elevation: < 250 m.
Bioregional distribution: n Central Coast (around San Francisco Bay), San Francisco Bay Area
Distribution outside California: native to Chile
| YOU CAN HELP US make sure that our distributional information is correct and current. If you know that a plant occurs in a wild, reproducing state in a Jepson bioregion NOT highlighted on the map, please contact us with that information. Please realize that we cannot incorporate range extensions without access to a voucher specimen, which should (ultimately) be deposited in an herbarium. You can send the pressed, dried collection (with complete locality information indicated) to us (e-mail us for details) or refer us to an accessioned herbarium specimen. Non-occurrence of a plant in an indicated area is difficult to document, but we will especially value your input on those types of possible errors (see automatic conversion of distribution data to maps). |
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