Lilaeopsis masonii
Encyclopedia
Lilaeopsis masonii is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family
known by the common names mudflat quillplant and Mason's lilaeopsis. It is endemic to California
, where it is known only from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and nearby shores of San Francisco Bay
.
It is a plant of freshwater
and brackish marsh
es and other estuary
habitat. The plant is rare overall, limited in distribution to about 80 populations in a single network of water bodies, but it is locally abundant in some areas. It is a common bayside plant in Suisun Marsh
.
It is threatened by numerous environmental factors, however, including erosion
, flood control
activities such as levee
maintenance and dredging, consumption of marshland for development, agriculture
, recreation, pollution, and competition with water hyacinth
(Eichhornia crassipes).
This is a small perennial herb, superficially grasslike in appearance, growing in small continuous tufts from spreading rhizome
s. The thready or hairlike leaves are several centimeters high and green in color. The inflorescence
is a minute, threadlike umbel
of tiny greenish white to maroon flowers each yielding a spherical fruit about a millimeter wide.
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 names mudflat quillplant and Mason's lilaeopsis. 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 only from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and nearby shores of San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
It is a plant of freshwater
Freshwater marsh
A freshwater marsh is a marsh that contains fresh water. They are usually found near the mouths of rivers and are present in areas with low drainage. The Florida Everglades, the largest freshwater marsh in the United States, are an example of this type of marsh....
and brackish marsh
Brackish marsh
Brackish marshes develop by salt marshes where a significant freshwater influx dilute the seawater to brackish levels of salinity. This commonly happens upstream salt marshes by estuaries of coastal rivers or near the mouths of coastal rivers with heavy freshwater discharges in the conditions of...
es and other estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
habitat. The plant is rare overall, limited in distribution to about 80 populations in a single network of water bodies, but it is locally abundant in some areas. It is a common bayside plant in Suisun Marsh
Suisun Marsh
Located in northern California the Suisun Marsh is the largest brackish marsh on west coast of the United States of America. The marsh land is part of the San Francisco Bay tidal estuary, and subject to tidal ebb and flood...
.
It is threatened by numerous environmental factors, however, including erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
, flood control
Flood control
In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...
activities such as levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
maintenance and dredging, consumption of marshland for development, agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, recreation, pollution, and competition with water hyacinth
Eichhornia crassipes
Eichhornia crassipes, commonly known as Common Water Hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to the Amazon basin, and is often considered a highly problematic invasive species outside its native range.-Ecology:...
(Eichhornia crassipes).
This is a small perennial herb, superficially grasslike in appearance, growing in small continuous tufts from spreading rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
s. The thready or hairlike leaves are several centimeters high and green in color. The 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...
is a minute, threadlike umbel
Umbel
An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....
of tiny greenish white to maroon flowers each yielding a spherical fruit about a millimeter wide.