Chorizanthe pungens is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Monterey spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Francisco Bay Area south along the Central Coast.
| Chorizanthe pungens | |
|---|---|
| |
| var. pungens | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Polygonaceae |
| Genus: | Chorizanthe |
| Species: | C. pungens
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chorizanthe pungens | |
Description
editIt grows mainly in coastal habitat and that of the hills and mountains overlooking the coastline. This is a generally erect but sometimes spreading or prostrate plant with stems up to half a meter in length. It is green to gray to red in color and usually hairy in texture. The leaves are located at the base of the plant; there are also bracts along the stem at the bases of the inflorescences which look like leaves. The inflorescence is a dense cluster of flowers, each flower surrounded by six white to pink hairy bracts tipped in hooked awns. The flower itself is only a few millimeters wide with jagged tepals.
Varieties
editThere are two varieties of this species:
- var. pungens is the more common, but is nevertheless a federally listed threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.[2][3]
- var. hartwegiana is known only from the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Santa Cruz.[4] This variety, known as the Ben Lomond spineflower, is treated as a federally listed endangered species.[5] It is found in the same type of unique habitat, known as the Zayante sandhills, as other local rare endemic life forms such as the Ben Lomond wallflower Erysimum teretifolium and the Zayante band-winged grasshopper Trimerotropis infantilis.[6][7] Threats to this plant and other endemic species include the destruction of the local habitat during sand mining.[4][6]
References
edit- ^ NatureServe (1 December 2023). "Chorizanthe pungens". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ "Monterey spineflower (Chorizanthe pungens var. pungens)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ 59 FR 5499
- ^ a b Elkhorn Slough Local Profile
- ^ USDA Plants Profile
- ^ a b Santa Cruz Public Libraries Report Archived 2002-01-02 at archive.today
- ^ Zayante Sandhills Conservation Bank
External links
edit
- Chorizanthe pungens. Jepson eFlora 2013.
- Chorizanthe pungens. CalPhotos.
Further reading
editKluse, J. & D. F. Doak. (1999). Demographic performance of a rare California endemic, Chorizanthe pungens var. hartwegiana (Polygonaceae). The American Midland Naturalist 142(2):244-56.
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