Clintonia andrewsiana is a species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. The species was discovered by John Milton Bigelow in 1854 and described by John Torrey in 1856.[3] The specific epithet andrewsiana honors Timothy Langdon Andrews (1819–1908),[4] a "gentleman who assiduously examined the botany" of California during the mid-19th century. The species is commonly known as Andrews clintonia or red clintonia,[5][6] where the latter refers to the color of the flowers. In California, it is also known as bluebead lily or western bluebead lily,[7][8] not to be confused with C. borealis, which is likewise known as bluebead lily. The Pomo people of northern California consider the plant to be poisonous.[9]

Clintonia andrewsiana
Sonoma County, California (May 2010)

Apparently Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Subfamily: Lilioideae
Genus: Clintonia
Species:
C. andrewsiana
Binomial name
Clintonia andrewsiana
Synonyms[2]
  • Clintonia andrewsii Alph.Wood

Description

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Clintonia andrewsiana is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by means of underground rhizomes. It is the largest plant species in the genus, standing 30 to 80 cm (12 to 31 in) tall. Around the base of the plant are 5 or 6 oval-shaped, dark green leaves, each 20 to 35 cm (8 to 14 in) long and 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in) wide. The tall, erect inflorescence consists of a terminal umbel with 10–20 flowers and up to three lateral umbels with 2–4 flowers each. Each flower has six pink to reddish-purple tepals 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 in) long and six stamens about half as long as the tepals. The fruit is a blue or blue-black berry approximately 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter.[6][10]

Distribution and habitat

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Clintonia andrewsiana is found along the West Coast of the United States, from Monterey County in central California north to Curry County in southwestern Oregon.[11] It prefers the shady, moist areas of the coastal redwood forests.[6]

The range of C. andrewsiana overlaps with that of C. uniflora in Humboldt County and Del Norte County in northwestern California and Curry County in Oregon,[11][12] but the two species are readily distinguished by their flowers. C. andrewsiana has multiple flowers arranged in one or more umbels while C. uniflora has a single flower with white tepals.[10] The tepals of C. andrewsiana are a deep claret red.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Clintonia andrewsiana". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Clintonia andrewsiana Torr.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. ^ Torrey, John (1856), Report on the botany of the expedition (Part V), Description of the general botanical collections (No. 4), Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, vol. IV: Route near the thirty-fifth parallel, explored by lieutenant A. W. Whipple, topographical engineers, in 1853 and 1854, Washington, D.C.: Department of War, pp. 150–151, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.41563, OCLC 12125612, retrieved 4 March 2022
  4. ^ Daniel, Thomas F. (May 16, 2008). "One Hundred and Fifty Years of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences (1853–2003)" (PDF). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences. 4. 59 (7): 215–305. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  5. ^ NRCS. "Clintonia andrewsiana". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Utech, Frederick H. (2002). "Clintonia andrewsiana". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 August 2020 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  7. ^ "Clintonia andrewsiana Torr". Calflora. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  8. ^ Painter, Elizabeth (May 1, 2016). "Common (vernacular) names applied to California vascular plants". The Jepson Online Interchange. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Clintonia andrewsiana Torr". BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  10. ^ a b McNeal, Dale W. (2012). "Clintonia andrewsiana". In Jepson Flora Project (ed.). Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  11. ^ a b " Clintonia andrewsiana". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  12. ^ " Clintonia uniflora". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
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