''Chorizanthe robusta'' is a species of flowering plant in the

buckwheat family The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus ''Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, where it is a rare, federally listed endangered species.

Description

''Chorizanthe robusta'' is variable in form, growing decumbent or erect and reaching a maximum length of half a meter. It is grayish in color and hairy. The

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 ...

is made up of several flowers with each flower surrounded by white or pink bracts with hooked tips. The flower itself is just a few millimeters long and white to pink in color.

Varieties

It is composed of two varieties: *var. ''robusta'', known generally as the robust spineflower, which is known only from southern Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, *var. ''hartwegii'', the Scotts Valley spineflower, which is known from a few locations in

Scotts Valley Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about thirty miles (48 km) south of downtown San Jose and six miles (10 km) north of the city of Santa Cruz, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mounta ...

in Santa Cruz County.Flora of North America: var. ''hartwegii''
/ref> The plant is closely related to ''

Chorizanthe pungens ''Chorizanthe pungens'' is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name Monterey spineflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Francisco Bay Area south along the Central Coast. Descrip ...

'', another rare endemic from the area.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Chorizanthe robusta''The Nature Conservancy: ''C. robusta''Photo gallery: ''C.robusta'' var. ''hartwegii''

robusta ROBUSTA (Radiation on Bipolar for University Satellite Test Application) is a nano-satellite scientific experiment developed by the University of Montpellier students as part of a Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) call for student projects ...

Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of Santa Cruz County, California Plants described in 1889 {{Polygonaceae-stub