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/SEPALS
BUD
SEPAL
OVARY POSITION
ovary
OVARY SUPERIOR OVARY INFERIOR above the sepals/petals 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 California? Because it involves Serpents!
Sort of. Serpentinite – Our State rock and lithographic emblem
Happy Plants 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 Calochortus uniflorus Eschscholzia californica Vernal Pools and our State Soil
San Joaquin Series (Alfisol) Mima Mounds!
Typical Pea Flower
irregular flower
1 petal
2 petals
2 petals LUPINE INFLORESCENCE 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 plant 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
sepal 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