Keckiella breviflora
Encyclopedia
Keckiella breviflora is a species of flowering shrub
in the plantain family
known by the common name bush beardtongue. It is native to many of the mountain ranges and foothills of central California
, and its range extends just into Nevada
. This is a branching, bushy shrub with many thin stems, approaching a maximum height near two meters. Its shiny green leaves are arranged oppositely on the branches, and each is one to four centimeters long, generally lance-shaped and finely serrated or smooth along the edges. The shrub produces tall inflorescence
s which are loose, glandular spikes of flowers. Each flower is one to two centimeters wide with five pale pink or pinkish-streaked white lobes whose external surfaces have long, shiny hairs. The three lower lobes curl outward from the mouth and under, and the two upper lobes are joined into a lip that curves forward over the mouth. Within the mouth are long stamen
filaments bearing anthers, and a flat, hairless, sterile stamen called a staminode
.
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
in the plantain family
Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...
known by the common name bush beardtongue. It is native to many of the mountain ranges and foothills of central 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...
, and its range extends just into Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. This is a branching, bushy shrub with many thin stems, approaching a maximum height near two meters. Its shiny green leaves are arranged oppositely on the branches, and each is one to four centimeters long, generally lance-shaped and finely serrated or smooth along the edges. The shrub produces tall inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
s which are loose, glandular spikes of flowers. Each flower is one to two centimeters wide with five pale pink or pinkish-streaked white lobes whose external surfaces have long, shiny hairs. The three lower lobes curl outward from the mouth and under, and the two upper lobes are joined into a lip that curves forward over the mouth. Within the mouth are long stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
filaments bearing anthers, and a flat, hairless, sterile stamen called a staminode
Staminode
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen. This means that it does not produce pollen. Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the...
.