''Hastingsia bracteosa'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the agave subfamily of the asparagus family known by the common name large-flowered rushlily. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

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 ...

in the United States, where it is limited to a twelve-mile stretch of the Illinois Valley in the southwestern part of the state.''Hastingsia bracteosa''.
Center for Plant Conservation. This plant grows from a dark-coated

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

and produces gray-green leaves up to 52 centimeters long. The slender, erect scape grows up to 87 centimeters tall. At the top is 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 ...

which is a

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

of many flowers. Each flower has

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 roughly 1 centimeter long.''Hastingsia bracteosa''.
Flora of North America. Some plants produce white flowers and some purple, and where they occur together they can cross to produce pink flowers. White-flowered plants generally occur in the northern part of the species' very small range, and purple plants grow in the southern end, the two separated by a single meadow where they mix. The purple-flowered form was considered a separate species for a time,Becking, R. W. 1986. ''Hastingsia atropurpurea'' (Liliaceae: Asphodeleae). A new species from southwestern Oregon. ''Madroño'' 33: 175–181. but they are similar enough that they are now treated as members of the same species. This plant grows on

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

gy open slopes and in other wetland habitat such as

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

s, springs and

wet meadow A wet meadow is a type of wetland with soils that are Solubility, saturated for part or all of the growing season which prevents the growth of trees and brush. Debate exists whether a wet meadow is a type of marsh or a completely separate type of ...

s, often in areas with serpentine soils. Associated plant species include '' Darlingtonia californica'', '' Helenium bigelovii'', and '' Chamaecyparis lawsoniana''. It is often found in serpentine fens dominated by ''Darlingtonia'' and with '' Gentiana setigera'', '' Castilleja miniata'' ssp. ''elata'', and '' Rudbeckia californica''.''Hastingsia bracteosa''.
The Nature Conservancy.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
Agavoideae Flora of Oregon Endemic flora of Oregon {{Asparagaceae-stub