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Sisyrinchium californicum

GOLDEN-EYED-GRASS


Higher Taxonomy
Family: IridaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: IRIS FAMILY
Habit: [(Annual), shrub], perennial herb generally from [bulb], corm, or rhizome. Stem: generally erect, generally +- round in ×-section. Leaf: generally basal (few cauline), 2-ranked, +- sword-shaped, blade edge-wise to stem, with midvein or not; bases overlapped, sheathing. Inflorescence: generally +- terminal; spikes, umbel-like cymes, or flowers 1; flowers in spikes or 1 subtended by 2 subopposite flower bracts; umbel-like cymes enclosed by 2 subopposite, generally large, leaf-like inflorescence bracts, including various flower bracts. Flower: bisexual (unisexual), radial, with stamens erect, enclosing style, or bilateral, with stamens, style to 1 side, stamens not enclosing style; perianth radial, parts free or generally fused into tube above ovary, generally petal-like, in 2 series of 3, outer +- like inner (or not, in Iris, parts in that genus called sepals, petals), upper +- like lower or not; stamens 3, attached at base of outer 3 perianth parts or in tube, generally free; ovary inferior [(superior)], [(1)]3-chambered, placentas axile [(parietal)], style 1, branches 3, entire to 2-branched, thread- or petal-like with stigma abaxial, proximal to tip. Fruit: capsule, loculicidal. Seed: few to many.
Genera In Family: +- 65 genera, +- 2050 species: worldwide, especially Africa; many cultivated (e.g., Crocus, Dietes, Freesia, Gladiolus, Iris, Sisyrinchium). Note: Gladiolus italicus Mill., Gladiolus tristis L. are urban weeds. Sparaxis grandiflora (D. Delaroche) Ker Gawl., Sparaxis tricolor (Schneev.) Ker Gawl. are waifs.
eFlora Treatment Author: Peter Goldblatt, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Thomas J. Rosatti.
Genus: SisyrinchiumView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Habit: [Annual] perennial herb; rhizomes compact. Stem: 1 or tufted, +- flat, winged, nodes well above basal leaves with leaves or not, each with >= 1 flower-branch. Leaf: bases overlapped, sheathing. Inflorescence: flowers in umbel-like cymes; bracts 2, equal in length or not, margins translucent. Flower: perianth red-purple, +- blue, violet, yellow (white), parts mucronate, +- alike, outer generally wider; filaments +- free to +- fused. Seed: ovoid, smooth or pitted.
Etymology: (Latin, sus, pig, and Greek, rhynchos, snout, alluding to swine digging the roots of some bulbous plant for food, spoken of by Pliny and Theophrastus (W.J. Hooker, 1830). The reason for applying the name to a genus of New World Iridaceae was apparently arbitrary.) Note: Use of treatments prior to +- 2003 often results in misidentification. Sisyrinchium douglasii moved to Olsynium.
Unabridged Note: Use of treatments prior to +- 2003 often results in misidentification due to inconsistent or incorrect use of morphological terms and the fact the taxa look very much alike.
eFlora Treatment Author: Anita F. Cholewa
Unabridged Reference: Henderson 1976 Brittonia 28:149--176
Sisyrinchium californicum (Ker Gawl.) W.T. Aiton
NATIVE
Stem: tufted, < 62 cm, generally 2--7 mm wide, dull green, drying +- black, leaf-bearing nodes 0. Inflorescence: translucent margins of inner bract widened toward tip. Flower: perianth generally 11--18 mm, medium to bright yellow, veins generally +- brown. Chromosomes: n=17.
Ecology: Generally moist places near coast; Elevation: generally < 1220 m. Bioregional Distribution: NCo, KR, NCoRI, n SNH, n&c CCo, SnFrB; Distribution Outside California: to British Columbia. Flowering Time: Spring--late summer
Synonyms: Hydastylus borealis E.P. Bicknell; Hydastylus brachypus E.P. Bicknell; Sisyrinchium boreale (E.P. Bicknell) Henry; Sisyrinchium brachypus (E.P. Bicknell) Henry; Sisyrinchium flavidum Kellogg; Sisyrinchium lineatum Torr.
Jepson eFlora Author: Anita F. Cholewa
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Sisyrinchium bellum
Next taxon: Sisyrinchium elmeri


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Citation for this treatment: Anita F. Cholewa 2012, Sisyrinchium californicum, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=44688, accessed on December 04, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 04, 2024.

Sisyrinchium californicum
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©2007 California Academy of Sciences
Sisyrinchium californicum
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©1996 Gary A. Monroe
Sisyrinchium californicum
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©2007 Neal Kramer
Sisyrinchium californicum
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©2007 California Academy of Sciences
Sisyrinchium californicum
click for image enlargement
©2007 California Academy of Sciences

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Geographic subdivisions for Sisyrinchium californicum:
NCo, KR, NCoRI, n SNH, n&c CCo, SnFrB
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map of distribution 1

(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 occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).