Agnorhiza reticulata

Agnorhiza reticulata
Conservation status

Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Agnorhiza
Species: A. reticulata
Binomial name
Agnorhiza reticulata
(Greene) W.A.Weber
Synonyms

Wyethia reticulata

Agnorhiza reticulata (syn. Wyethia reticulata), known by the common name El Dorado County mule's ears, is a rare species of flowering plant endemic to California.

It is endemic to El Dorado County, California, where it is known from fewer than 30 occurrences in the California interior chaparral and woodlands habitats of the Sierra Nevada foothills.[1]

The genetic diversity of the populations is probably low because they are often clonal, spreading via vegetative reproduction with rhizomes rather than sexual reproduction by seed.[1] Some populations are also threatened by development of their habitat.[1][2]

Description

Agnorhiza reticulata is a perennial herb producing a hairy, glandular, sticky-textured stem growing 40 to 70 centimeters tall, at times reaching 1 meter (3 ft.). The leaves have triangular or lance-shaped blades up to 15 centimeters long.

The inflorescence is a usually solitary sunflowerlike flower head with up to 21 yellow ray florets measuring up to 2.5 centimeters long. At the center are yellow disc florets. The flowers are pollinated by native bees.[2]

The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long which usually lacks a pappus.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Nature Conservancy
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ayres, D. R. and F. J. Ryan. (1999). Genetic diversity and structure of the narrow endemic Wyethia reticulata and its congener W. bolanderi (Asteraceae) using RAPD and allozyme techniques. Am J Bot 86 344-53.

External links