''Androstephium breviflorum'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

known by the common names pink funnel lily and small flowered androstephium.

Distribution

This

monocot Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of ...

plant is native to the deserts of the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

from

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

west through the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

and

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

, to

creosote bush scrub Creosote bush scrub is a North American desert vegetation type (or biome) of sparsely but evenly spaced desert plants dominated by creosote bush (''Larrea tridentata'') and its associates. Its visual characterization is of widely spaced shrubs that ...

in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

of eastern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It grows at elevations of in sandy to rocky soil of open

desert scrub Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this ...

Description

''Androstephium breviflorum'' is a perennial herb growing from a spherical

corm A corm, bulbo-tuber, or bulbotuber is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ that some plants use to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat (perennation). The word ' ...

. Its

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a peduncle up to 30 centimeters tall containing up to 12 white to light lavender funnel-shaped flowers each one or two centimeters long. The bloom period is March to June. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule just over a centimeter long.

History

''Androstephium breviflorum'' was published as a new species by Sereno Watson in 1873,Watson, S. 1873. New plants of northern Arizona and the region adjacent. Amer. Naturalist 7 (see page 300). Available through th
Biodiversity Heritage Library
/ref> based on material collected by

Ellen Powell Thompson Ellen Louella (Nellie) Powell Thompson (1840–1911) was an American naturalist and botanist, and an active advocate for women's suffrage. Life Ellen Louella (Nellie) Powell Thompson was born in Ohio to parents of English origin. Her siblings i ...

in 1872 in the vicinity of Kanab, Utah, during the US Topographical and Geological Survey of the Colorado River (led by

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

). Her specimen, the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

, resides in the United States National Herbarium (US).

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Androstephium breviflorum'' (Pink funnel lily, Small flowered androstephium)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Androstephium breviflorum''USDA Plants Profile for ''Androstephium breviflorum'' (pink funnel lily)Flora of North AmericaUC CalPhotos gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2846971 Brodiaeoideae Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the California desert regions Flora of Colorado Flora of New Mexico Flora of Wyoming Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Endemic flora of the United States Natural history of the Mojave Desert Plants described in 1873 Taxa named by Sereno Watson Flora without expected TNC conservation status