Common Name: FALSE-HELLEBORE FAMILY Habit: Perennial herb, from rhizome or bulb, or rhizomes ending in weakly developed bulbs, scapose or not. Leaf: alternate, whorled, or mostly basal and spirally arranged, deciduous after 1 year or not. Inflorescence: raceme, panicle, or flowers 1. Flower: perianth parts 6, in 2 petal-like whorls or of sepals and petals, free or fused below, +- spreading; stamens 6, from perianth, anthers attached at base or near middle; ovary superior or partly inferior, chambers 3, styles 3, persistent. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal or septicidal. Genera In Family: 10 genera, 130 species: northern hemisphere. Note: W North America Zigadenus moved to Toxicoscordion. eFlora Treatment Author: Dale W. McNeal, except as noted Scientific Editor: Dale W. McNeal, Thomas J. Rosatti.
Common Name: BEAR-GRASS, BASKET-GRASS Habit: Plant non-flowering for several years, stalk dying after fruiting; rhizome woody, tuber-like. Stem: stout, simple, leafy. Leaf: persistent, wiry, tough, grass-like, strongly scabrous. Inflorescence: raceme, dense, +- club-shaped, longer (to 50 cm) in fruit. Flower: perianth parts free, oblong to ovate, persistent, +- white to cream, 5--7-veined; filaments wider at base, anthers attached near middle; style short, stigmas thread-like. Fruit: 3-angled, loculicidal. Seed: 9--18, oblong, 3-angled, black. Etymology: (Greek: dry leaf, from tough, persistent leaves) Reference: Fay et al. 2006 Aliso 22:559--565 Unabridged Reference: Fay, M. F., et al. 2006 Phylogenetics of Liliales: summarized evidence from combined analysis of five plastid and one mitochondrial loci. Aliso 22:559--565
Xerophyllum tenax (Pursh) Nutt.
NATIVE Stem: 15--150 cm. Leaf: basal in dense clump, 30--100 cm, 2--6 mm wide; cauline many, reduced upward. Inflorescence: pedicels 2--5 cm, spreading to +- erect. Flower: 5--10 mm; perianth parts +- oblong; style +- 1 mm, stigma branches 2--4 mm. Fruit: 5--7 mm. Chromosomes: n=15. Ecology: Dry open slopes, ridges, montane conifer forest; Elevation: < 2300 m. Bioregional Distribution: KR, NCoRO, CaRH, n SNH, CCo, SnFrB; Distribution Outside California: to British Columbia, Montana, Wyoming. Flowering Time: May--Aug Jepson eFlora Author: Dale W. McNeal Reference: Fay et al. 2006 Aliso 22:559--565 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Xerophyllum Next taxon: Nartheciaceae
Botanical illustration including Xerophyllum tenax
Citation for this treatment: Dale W. McNeal 2012, Xerophyllum tenax, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=48666, accessed on April 19, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.
Geographic subdivisions for Xerophyllum tenax:
KR, NCoRO, CaRH, n SNH, CCo, SnFrB
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).
Data provided by the participants of the
Consortium of California Herbaria.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
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Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).
