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Stebbins' Harmonia

Harmonia stebbinsii

This representative of the tarweed group is an endangered endemic to California, and characteristically associated with shallow, rocky, serpentine soils. It is only found in the narrow geographical range of Lake, Shasta, Tehama, and Trinity counties of California' Klamath Mountain Ecoregion. Occurrences outside of this range have not been documented. Ecology. Ultramafic, "serpentine" soils in California support a high rate of endemism in plant communities. Plate tectonics and erosion over time work to produce these unique soil environments that are characterized by high levels of magnesium and iron silicate materials. In addition, they feature low levels of important plant nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium. In addition, these soils contain trace minerals that are toxic to most plants, including cobalt, chromium, and nickel. California contains approximately 2300 square miles of ultramafic rocks. Thus, plants found in these environments have the adaptive ability to grow, despite these conditions. Furthermore, such an extreme environment facilitates the high rate of endemism found, as few species are able to dominate a serpentine plant community. Of all of the endemic California plants, those of the family Asteraceae have the highest affinity for serpentine soils, based on the number of species represented in these serpentine plant communities. Most serpentine endemism is concentrated in the North Coastal and Klamath Mountain Ranges of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon.

Prickleleaf

Hecastocleis shockleyi

Hecastocleis is a genus of plants in the daisy family containing the single species Hecastocleis shockleyi. It is known by the common name prickleleaf. This plant is native to the desert mountains and plains of eastern California (Inyo, Mono, Kern, + San Bernardino Counties) and southern Nevada (Mineral, Esmeralda, Nye, Lincoln, + Clark Counties), where it grows on arid, rocky slopes and flats. This is a low, brambly shrub producing a tangle of stiff, branching stems reaching heights between 40 and 70 centimeters. The stems have sparse glandular hairs and are lined with small pointed green leaves with a row of widely spaced spines along each edge. As the leaf dries and its flesh falls away, the spines remain as hard prickles. At the end of each flowering branch is a dense cluster of narrow flower heads, the entire cluster enclosed by flat, oval-shaped, sharply toothed, leaflike, pale green to straw colored bracts resembling holly leaves. Each head in the cluster contains a single flower with a white to pinkish corolla, surrounded by narrow greenish phyllaries. The corollas are mostly radially symmetric, rarely bilaterally symmetric. The fruit is a cylindrical achene. The cluster of heads is sometimes referred to as a secondary head, and it resembles the primary head of other members of the daisy family. Classification. Hecastocleis shockleyi is the only species in the subfamily Hecastocleidoideae of the aster family (Asteraceae). Botanists at least as early as Asa Gray (in 1882) remarked on its distinctiveness; it appears to have no close relatives within the aster family.

Prairie Sunflower

Helianthus petiolaris

Helianthus petiolaris is a North American plant species in the sunflower family, commonly known as the prairie sunflower or lesser sunflower. Naturalist and botanist Thomas Nuttall was the first to described the prairie sunflower in 1821. The word petiolaris in Latin means, "having a petiole". The originated in western United States, but has since expanded east. The prairie sunflower is considered a be a weed. Helianthus petiolaris originated in the dry prairies of Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, the Dakotas, California, and other states in western and central United States. It has since expanded its distribution to throughout the eastern United States and into central and western Canada. Helianthus petiolaris is now the most widely distributed species of sunflower besides H. annuus. Habitat and ecology. The prairie sunflower is commonly found growing in sandy areas. They can also be found in heavy clay soil and in dry prairies. The prairie sunflower is unable to grow in shady areas; it needs to be in direct sunlight. It requires dry to moist soil. This species of sunflower is an annual flower, blooming between the months of June and September. The prairie sunflower can be found from the Great Plains, the Rockies, the desert regions of the Southwest, etc. Morphology. Individuals of this species occur as shrubs and also as taprooted annuals. They can grow up to four feet tall (120 cm). The leaves appear alternate and the flowers have a close resemblance to the traditional sunflower. The flowers are hermaphrodite, which means the flowers contain both male and female parts. The stem of the flower is erect and hairy. The leaves on the shrub are alternate, has a lanceolate shape, rough in texture, are bluish-green in color, and has a length between 2-5 inches. Flowers.

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