''Agnorhiza bolanderi'' is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Bolander's mule's ears. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it is known only from a narrow section of the

Sierra Nevada foothills :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex: the plants and animals are a significant ...

about 275 kilometers long from Shasta County to Mariposa County.Ayres, D. R. and F. J. Ryan. (1999)
Genetic diversity and structure of the narrow endemic ''Wyethia reticulata'' and its congener ''W. bolanderi'' (Asteraceae) using RAPD and allozyme techniques.
American Journal of Botany 86 344-53. It grows in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

and

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

habitat, usually on

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

Description

''Agnorhiza bolanderi'' is a perennial herb growing from a thick taproot and

caudex A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.pages 456 and 695 In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is m ...

unit. This underground stem part helps it survive

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

, which is common in its chaparral habitat. The aboveground stem grows up to 30 centimeters long. It is glandular and sticky in texture. The leaves have oval blades up to 12 centimeters long. The

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. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a solitary bell-shaped, sunflower-like flower head sometimes tucked amongst the uppermost leaves. The head contains about 13 yellow ray florets which may be 2 to 3 centimeters long or more. At the center are yellow

disc floret The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

s. The fruit is an

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

about 7 millimeters long which does not have a pappus. The species is named for German-American botanist

Henry Nicholas Bolander Henry Nicholas Bolander (February 22, 1831 – August 28, 1897) was a German-American botanist and educator. Bolander was born in Schlüchtern, Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1846. He joined his uncle in Columbus, Ohio and enroll ...

, 1831–1897.Gray, Asa 1868. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 7(2): 356
in English and Latin, as ''Balsamorhiza bolanderi''

References

External links

United States Department of Agriculture Plants ProfileCalphotos Photo gallery, University of California
Heliantheae Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Plants described in 1868 {{Heliantheae-stub