California sweetcicely | |
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Conservation status | |
Apparently Secure (NatureServe) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Apiales |
Family: | Apiaceae |
Genus: | Osmorhiza |
Species: | O. brachypoda |
Binomial name | |
Osmorhiza brachypoda Torr. |
Osmorhiza brachypoda is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae known by the common name California sweetcicely.
Description
Osmorhiza brachypoda is a hairy, aromatic perennial herb growing 30–80 centimetres (12–31 in) tall.
The green leaves have blades up to 20 centimeters long which are divided into toothed or lobed leaflets. The blade is borne on a long petiole.
The inflorescence is a compound umbel of many tiny greenish yellow flowers at the tip of a stemlike peduncle. The narrow, elongated fruit is ribbed and bristly, measuring up to 2 centimeters long.
Distribution and habitat
It is native to mountainous and wooded areas of California and Arizona, at elevations from 200–2,000 meters (660–6,560 ft). Habitats include chaparral and woodlands and coniferous forests.
It is found in the Southern California Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and the central and southern Sierra Nevada foothills.
Ecology
This is the only known host plant for the California endemic moth Greya suffusca.
References
- "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org.
- TolWeb: Greya suffusca
External links
- Jepson Manual Treatment of Osmorhiza brachypoda
- USDA Plants Profile for Osmorhiza brachypoda (California sweet cicely)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Osmorhiza brachypoda — CalPhotos photo gallery
Taxon identifiers | |
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Osmorhiza brachypoda |
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- NatureServe apparently secure species
- Osmorhiza
- Flora of Arizona
- Flora of California
- Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
- Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
- Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
- Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges
- Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
- Butterfly food plants