Streptanthus hispidus

Streptanthus hispidus, the Mt. Diablo jewelflower,[1] is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family.

Streptanthus hispidus

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Streptanthus
Species:
S. hispidus
Binomial name
Streptanthus hispidus

Distribution

It is endemic to Contra Costa County, California, where it is known from fewer than 15 occurrences on and around Mount Diablo. It grows in rocky outcrops in grassland and chaparral habitat. It is threatened by habitat degradation, such as trampling by hikers and destruction during maintenance activities.[2]

Description

Streptanthus hispidus is a bristly annual herb growing up to 30 centimeters tall. Flowers occur in a raceme, the uppermost ones often sterile and different in form. The bristly bell-shaped calyx of sepals is greenish brown in the fertile flowers and purple in the sterile. Fertile flowers have four light purple petals up to a centimeter long. The fruit is a bristly silique up to 8 centimeters in length.

References
  1. "Streptanthus hispidus". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  2. The Nature Conservancy


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