Common Name: UNICORN-PLANT Habit: Taproot branched or tuberous. Stem: prostrate to spreading, generally < 1 m. Leaf: blade broadly ovate to round or triangular, palmately veined (generally palmately lobed), base cordate. Inflorescence: bractlets < calyx. Flower: calyx 1--2 cm, generally 5-lobed, split to base on lower side, or sepals free; corolla 2--5 cm, bell- to funnel-shaped, showy, tube cylindric, generally < 1 cm, bent downward, throat 10--30 mm, limb with 5 flared lobes, throat and lower limb with colored lines (nectar guides). Fruit: body 5--10 cm, fusiform, smooth, rough, or spiny, crested with branched projections generally only along upper suture; claws 1.5--3 × body. Seed: 8--13 mm, angled, generally black, corky. Etymology: (Greek: elephant's trunk) Note: Fruit dispersed by attachment of claw to animals. Proboscidea parviflora subsp. parviflora not in California according to some reports, naturalized in California according to others. Unabridged Note: All California material previously identified as Proboscidea parviflora subsp. parviflora belongs instead to Proboscidea parviflora var. hohokamiana Bretting, according to some but not all reports; in California only in cultivation according to some reports, naturalized in California according to others; in Arizona cultivated by Native Americans for fibers from fruit. Reference: Bretting 1982 Amer J Bot 69:1531--1537
Proboscidea althaeifolia (Benth.) Decne.
NATIVE Habit: Perennial herb; taproot fusiform, tuber-like, in width > stem base, yellow. Stem: decumbent. Leaf: blade 3--7 cm wide, broad-ovate to round or deltate, generally palmately 3--5-lobed, crenate. Inflorescence: 5--50-flowered, generally exceeding leaves. Flower: calyx 5-lobed, lower 3 > upper; corolla yellow to orange with various darker markings. Fruit: body +- 1 cm wide, lanceolate, spines 0. Seed: 6--7 mm. Ecology: Sandy places; Elevation: < 1000 m. Bioregional Distribution: se DMoj, DSon; Distribution Outside California: to Texas, northern Mexico, Peru. Flowering Time: May--Aug Synonyms: Proboscidea altheaefolia (Benth.) Decne., orth. var. Jepson eFlora Author: Margriet Wetherwax & Lawrence R. Heckard Reference: Bretting 1982 Amer J Bot 69:1531--1537 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Listed on CNPS Rare Plant Inventory Previous taxon: Proboscidea Next taxon: Proboscidea louisianica subsp. louisianica
Botanical illustration including Proboscidea althaeifolia
Citation for this treatment: Margriet Wetherwax & Lawrence R. Heckard 2012, Proboscidea althaeifolia, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=101279, accessed on April 24, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 24, 2024.
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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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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.
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CCH collections by month
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).