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Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis   

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Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis
Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis
Photographer: Aaron Schusteff

ID: 0000 0000 0411 2351 (2011-04-28)

Copyright © 2011 Aaron Schusteff

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INFORMATION PROVIDED WITH THE PHOTO
  • date of photo  Mar 30, 2011
  • location   Box Canyon (Riverside County, California, US)
  • family Campanulaceae
  • notes   A single flower of Nemacladus tenuis, with a millimeter ruler in the background for scale. The plant was growing on a rocky bank at the edge of a desert wash.

    Note that the flower appears to be protandrous, meaning the anthers mature and dehisce before the stigma opens and becomes receptive to pollen.

    You can also see some of the other fascinating structures associated with Nemacladus flowers here: the three yellow ''glands'' in the cup-shape base of the corolla; the distinct bases of the staminal filaments, below where they become fused into a tube above; and the fantastic, digitate and transparent ''rod-like appendages''...attached here at the end of two short stipes emanating from the bases of two of the filaments. The yellow glands presumably secrete nectar as a reward for pollinators...but the details of the function of the transparent rod-like appendages apparently remains a (very intriguing!) mystery.

    Postscript (4/26/19):

    1) The transparent rod-like appendages (which I usually call ''digitate processes'', since they're palmately arranged and are actually attached to the apices of short 'true appendages' at the bases of the two lower filaments) are now hypothesized to attract pollinators by simulating fully-charged nectaries with their glisten.

    2) Note that the lower two photos in the collage appear there 'upside-down'. That is, the flowers in this species are ''inverted'' (or ''resupinate'')...so when properly oriented the 2-lobed lip of the corolla is 'on top' and the 3-lobed lip is 'on the bottom'.

    3) Reference images by Nancy Morin for the two varieties of N. tenuis appear at this link. There can be subtleties in placing plants to variety, since there are often intermediate forms in the spectrum of variation between the extremes of N. t. var. tenuis and N. t. var. aliformis. Though somewhat intermediate, I'd place the plants here as N. t. var. tenuis due to the relatively mildly-zygomorphic corolla shape; the relatively wide & only slightly-curved frontal aspect of the upper two lobes; and the basally white and red-tipped coloration of those upper lobe. As I understand it, N. t. var. aliformis is characterized by a more strongly-zygomorphic corolla shape; with the two upper corolla lobes being significantly narrower (almost linear), more falcate, and more uniformly red throughout. For examples from the Death Valley region, see here and here.

  • photo category: Plant - annual/perennial

  • MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS PLANT
  • Look for Jepson Manual treatments, maps (University & Jepson Herbaria)
  • View Calflora record for Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis
  • View all photos in CalPhotos of Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis
  • Check Google Images for Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis


  • The photographer's identification Nemacladus tenuis var. tenuis has not been reviewed. Click here to review or comment on the identification.

     
    Using this photo   The thumbnail photo (128x192 pixels) on this page may be freely used for personal or academic purposes without prior permission under the Fair Use provisions of US copyright law as long as the photo is clearly credited with © 2011 Aaron Schusteff. For other uses, or if you have questions, contact Aaron Schusteff arbonius2[AT]sbcglobal.net. (Replace the [AT] with the @ symbol before sending an email.)


     

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