TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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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. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to subshrubs, fleshy
Leaves generally simple, generally basal and cauline, alternate or opposite, generally reduced upward
Inflorescence: generally cyme, generally bracted
Flower: sepals generally 35, generally ± free; petals generally 35, ± free or fused; stamens = to >> sepals, free or epipetalous; pistils generally 35, simple (sometimes fused at base), ovary 1-chambered, placenta 1, parietal, ovules 1many, style 1
Fruit: follicles generally 35
Seeds 1many, small
Genera in family: ± 30 genera, ± 1500 species: ± worldwide, especially dry temp; many cultivated for ornamental. Family description and generic key by Melinda F. Denton and Reid Moran.
Perennial, fleshy, glabrous
Stem generally caudex or corm-like, generally vertical, branched or not, generally covered with dried leaves or leaf bases
Leaves in basal rosettes, evergreen vernal and ephemeral
Inflorescence: cyme, axillary, 1-sided; bracts leaf-like, alternate
Flower: sepals 5, fused below; petals 5, fused at base, erect to spreading above; stamens 10, epipetalous; pistils 5, ± fused below
Fruit: follicles 5, erect to spreading, many-seeded
Seed < 1 mm, narrowly ovoid, brown, striate
Species in genus: ± 45 species: sw North America
Etymology: (W.R. Dudley, western US botanist, 18491911)
Reference: [Moran in Jacobsen 1960 Handb Succ Plant:344359]
Unopened follicles generally most reliable for posture (erect, spreading, etc.).
Native |
Plant branched by stolons
Stem: caudex 1.53 cm wide, simple
Leaf 37 cm, 1.53 cm wide, 34 mm thick, oblong-obovate, nonglaucous; base 12 cm wide; tip short-acuminate
Inflorescence: 1° branches generally 2, rarely more, simple to rarely forked 1 X , ascending; peduncle 825 cm, 24 mm wide; terminal branches 16 cm, 39-flowered; pedicel 58 mm
Flower: sepals 23 mm, deltate, wider than long; petals 1011 mm, 33.5 mm wide, fused 12 mm, elliptic, yellow, tips outcurved, acute
Fruit: follicles ascending
Chromosomes: n=17
Ecology:CA . N-facing cliffs, outcrops
Elevation: < 250 m.
Bioregional distribution: c South Coast (San Joaquin Hills, Orange Co.)
Horticultural information: In cultivation.