California Wildflowers David Bernstein November 18th, 2009 • Identifying Flowers • Softcore • Mediumcore • Hardcore • Flower vocabulary • Examples of interesting ecosystems • Serpentine Syndrome • Vernal Pools • Examples of families and their local flowers • Pea Family -- Fabaceae • Buttercup Family – Ranunculaceae • Figwort Family -- Scrophulariaceae • Aster Family -- Asteraceae

IDEALIZED FLOWER STAMEN AND PISTIL

anther STAMEN

stigma filament

style PISTIL

ovary BUD/

BUD

SEPAL

OVARY POSITION

ovary

OVARY SUPERIOR OVARY INFERIOR above the sepals/ below the sepals/petals SUPERIOR OVARY

ovary superior above the sepals INFERIOR OVARY

ovary inferior below the sepals

Why would I be interested in wildflowers in ? Because it involves Serpents!

Sort of. Serpentinite – Our State rock and lithographic emblem

Happy Sad Plants

More Ca/Si More Fe/Mg

Felsic Inter- Mafic Ultramafic mediate

Intrusive Granite Diorite Gabbro Peridotite (plutonic)

Extrusive Rhyolite Andesite Basalt Komatite (volcanic)

Serpentine Syndrome – How an ecosystem copes with ultramafic soils

• Endemic – Restrained to a local region

• Edaphic – relating to a particular soil type

Streptanthus niger uniflorus Eschscholzia californica Vernal Pools and our State Soil

San Joaquin Series (Alfisol) Mima Mounds!

Typical Pea Flower

irregular flower

1

2 petals

2 petals LUPINE FLOWERS

banner

wings

keel spring vetch - flower

5-fused sepals banner wings spring vetch - Vicia sativa compound leaf with tendril

leaflet

tendril

leaf Genista monspessulana Ranunculaceae - Buttercup Family Dioecious Monoecious

Monoecious - (1 house) flowers both male regular or (stamen) and irregular female (pistil) components sepals separate, are on the either 4 or 5, same sometimes spurred

Dioecious - (2 houses) petals separate, male flowers various numbers, (staminate) sometimes spurred and female sometimes none flowers (pistillate) are on different stamens many plants; as in meadow rue

pistils more than 2 California buttercup - petals

variable number of petals larkspur - Delphinium species bud

with a spur

sepals - protecting the bud crimson columbine -

5 petals with spurs (one spur not shown)

5 sepals

many stamen Scrophulariaceae Figwort/Snapdragon Family 2 LIPS IRREGULAR FLOWERS UPPER AND LOWER

5 FUSED MONKEYFLOWER PETALS SEPALS CHINESE HOUSES FUSED

SPEEDWELL FRUIT

CAPSULE

INDIAN PAINTBRUSH

BRACT SEPALS FUSED OWL’S-CLOVER

TYPICAL BUTTER-AND-EGGS large monkeyflower - Mimulus guttatus large monkeyflower - close up purple owl’s-clover - Castilleja exserta

upper lip beak-like stigma

lower lip pouch-like 3 fused petals Indian paint brush - Castilleja affinis

sepals fused and lobed

upper lip beak-like

lower lip 3 small pouches Indian warrior - Pedicularis densiflora

many colored bracts intermingled with flowers

upper lip hood-like

lower lip 3 small pouches Sunflower Family - Asteraceae