''Clintonia uniflora'', commonly known as bride's bonnet, queen's cup, or bead lily, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the lily family

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fai ...

. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''uniflora'' means "one-flowered", a characteristic that distinguishes this species from others in the genus '' Clintonia''. For this reason, it is also known as the single-flowered clintonia.

Description

''Clintonia uniflora'' is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

that spreads by means of underground

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s. It is the smallest plant in the genus, only tall. It has two or three leaves located at the base of a hairy stem. Each leaf is wide and long. A plant typically bears a single flower but occasionally there will be an

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

of two flowers. The small flower has six white

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, each approximately long, and six protruding white

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s with pollen-dusted

anthers The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

. After pollination, the flower is replaced by a round blue

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

approximately in diameter. File:Clintonia uniflora, by Mary Vaux Walcott.jpg, alt=Watercolor painting of Clintonia uniflora, by Mary Vaux Walcott, Watercolor painting by Mary Vaux Walcott File:Clintonia uniflora 15272.JPG, alt=The solitary flower of Clintonia uniflora has six tepals and six stamens., The solitary flower has six

s and six

s. File:Clintonia uniflora 26301.JPG, alt=The fruit of Clintonia uniflora is a single round blue berry up to a centimeter in diameter., The fruit is a single round blue

up to a centimeter in diameter.

Taxonomy

In 1829,

Josef August Schultes Josef (Joseph) August Schultes (15 April 1773 in Vienna – 21 April 1831 in Landshut) was an Austrian botanist and professor from Vienna. Together with Johann Jacob Roemer (1763–1819), he published the 16th edition of Linnaeus' ''Systema ...

described the plant variety ''Smilacina borealis'' var. ''uniflora'', which was later segregated into species ''Smilacina uniflora''. The latter was to become a synonym for ''Clintonia uniflora'', first described by

Carl Sigismund Kunth Carl Sigismund Kunth (18 June 1788 – 22 March 1850) was a German botanist. He was also known as Karl Sigismund Kunth or anglicized as Charles Sigismund Kunth. He was one of the early systematic botanists who focused on studying the plants of th ...

in 1850.

Distribution

''Clintonia uniflora'' is native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, from southern

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

to central

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, extending eastward into southwestern

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and northwestern

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. It prefers cool

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

forests, typically at elevations from . ''C. uniflora'' occurs in many forest types but it prefers a cool moist coniferous forest consisting of western red cedar (''

Thuja plicata ''Thuja plicata'' is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the family Cupressaceae, native to the Pacific Northwest of North America. Its common name is western redcedar in the U.S. or western red cedar in the UK, and it is also called pacific re ...

''), western hemlock (''

Tsuga heterophylla ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of Tsuga, hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in nort ...

''), grand fir (''

Abies grandis ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to northwestern North America, occurring at altitudes of sea level to . It is a major constituent of t ...

''), subalpine fir (''

Abies lasiocarpa ''Abies lasiocarpa'', the subalpine fir or Rocky Mountain fir, is a western North American fir tree. Description ''Abies lasiocarpa'' is a medium-sized evergreen conifer with a very narrow conic crown, growing to tall, exceptionally , with a t ...

''), and Pacific silver fir (''

Abies amabilis ''Abies amabilis'', commonly known as the Pacific silver fir, is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, occurring in the Pacific Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range. It is also commonly referred to in English as the white fir, red ...

''). It is also associated with western white pine ('' Pinus monticola''), Alaska cedar ('' Chamaecyparis nootkatensis''), and noble fir (''

Abies procera ''Abies procera'', the noble fir, also called red fir, is a species of fir native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of . Description ''A. procera'' is a ...

''). Companion species in the understory include threeleaf foamflower ('' Tiarella trifoliata''), twinflower (''

Linnaea borealis ''Linnaea borealis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae (the honeysuckle family). It is the only species in the genus ''Linnaea''. It is a boreal to subarctic woodland subshrub, commonly known as twinflower (sometimes ...

''), and Canadian bunchberry (''

Cornus canadensis ''Cornus canadensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native plant, native to eastern Asia and North America. Common names include Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, quatre-temps, crackerberry, and creepi ...

''). The range of ''C. uniflora'' overlaps with that of '' C. andrewsiana'' in Humboldt County and

Del Norte County Del Norte County (Spanish for "Of The North") is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California, along the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Oregon border. Its population was 27,743 as of the 2020 census, down from 28 ...

in northwestern California and Curry County in southwestern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, but the two species are readily distinguished by their overall size and their flowers. ''C. uniflora'' has a single flower with white

s while ''C. andrewsiana'' has multiple flowers arranged in one or more

umbel UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...

s. The tepals of the latter are a deep claret red.

Ecology

''Clintonia uniflora'' is a perennial

geophyte A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy (generally in the form of carbohydrates) or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores. Plants that have ...

that can live up to 30 years (or more). The plant flowers between late May and July, and thereafter the fruit matures from late July to September. Citizen scientists observe flowering plants uniformly throughout June and July. The plant is not considered palatable but it is of at least minor importance as food for some wildlife species including birds, elk, and deer.

Frugivorous A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...

birds are the only reported dispersers of the seeds, which remain viable in the ground for at least a couple of years.

Uses

The

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, including the

Nuxalk The Nuxalk people (Nuxalk language, Nuxalk: ''Nuxalkmc''; pronounced )'','' also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous First Nations in Canada, First Nation ...

, the Cowlitz, and the

Haisla Haisla may refer to: * Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada. * Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language. * Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which repr ...

peoples, used the plant as a dermatological aid and eye medicine. The

Nlaka'pamux The Nlakaʼpamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', '' Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''K ...

(also known as the Thompson people) mashed the ripe blue fruit and used it as a dye or stain. Today ''Clintonia uniflora'' is used as a garden ornamental.

References

Bibliography

* Moss, E. H. 1983. Flora of Alberta (ed. 2) i–xii, 1–687. University of Toronto Press, Toronto. * Hultén, E. 1968. Flora of Alaska i–xxi, 1–1008. Stanford University Press, Stanford. * Hitchcock, C. H., A.J. Cronquist, F. M. Ownbey & J. W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Cryptogams, Gymnosperms, and Monocotyledons. 1: 1–914. In C. L. Hitchcock Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.

External links

* * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q309753 uniflora Flora of Western Canada Flora of Alaska Flora of California Flora of Idaho Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Plants described in 1829 Taxa named by Carl Sigismund Kunth