Eryngium constancei
Encyclopedia
Eryngium constancei is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family
known by the common name Loch Lomond button celery, or Loch Lomond coyote thistle. It is endemic to California
, where it is known from only three occurrences north of the San Francisco Bay Area
. One of the populations is at the Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve
at Loch Lomond
in Lake County
. The plant appears mainly in vernal pool
s. It is endangered
on the state and federal levels.
herb
growing branching stems to 20 or 30 centimeters in height. Dark green, narrowly spade-shaped leaves grow on long petioles
and may grow erect with the stems or lie flat along the ground. They may have smooth to toothed to sharply serrated edges.
Flower heads
are less than a centimeter wide with a few longer, straight, sharp bract
s around the base. The tiny flowers packed into the rounded head are generally white. This plant is threatened by destruction of its fragile vernal pool habitat by a number of causes, including sediment-rich runoff into the pools from logging
activity, erosion, development, and off-road vehicles.
Apiaceae
The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...
known by the common name Loch Lomond button celery, or Loch Lomond coyote thistle. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it is known from only three occurrences north of the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. One of the populations is at the Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve
Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve
The Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of in the community of Loch Lomond in Lake County, California. It is one of 119 ecological reserves managed by the California Department of Fish and Game...
at Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond (California)
Loch Lomond is a reservoir in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Lompico, California in Santa Cruz County, California. It was created by building a dam across the Newell Creek. The Dam is an earthfill barricade, by . It was completed in the Fall of 1960, impounded water first ran over the spillway in...
in Lake County
Lake County, California
Lake County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of California, north of the San Francisco Bay Area. It takes its name from Clear Lake, the dominant geographic feature in the county and the largest natural lake wholly within California...
. The plant appears mainly in vernal pool
Vernal pool
Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are temporary pools of water. They are usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species...
s. It is endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
on the state and federal levels.
Description
This is a hairy, somewhat fleshy, perennialPerennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herbaceous
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
growing branching stems to 20 or 30 centimeters in height. Dark green, narrowly spade-shaped leaves grow on long petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
and may grow erect with the stems or lie flat along the ground. They may have smooth to toothed to sharply serrated edges.
Flower heads
Pseudanthium
A pseudanthium or flower head is a special type of inflorescence, in which several flowers are grouped together to form a flower-like structure. The real flowers are generally small and greatly reduced, but can sometimes be quite large...
are less than a centimeter wide with a few longer, straight, sharp bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s around the base. The tiny flowers packed into the rounded head are generally white. This plant is threatened by destruction of its fragile vernal pool habitat by a number of causes, including sediment-rich runoff into the pools from logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
activity, erosion, development, and off-road vehicles.