''Amsinckia grandiflora'' is a species of

fiddleneck ''Amsinckia'' is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as fiddlenecks. The common name is derived from the flower stems, which curl over at the top in a manner reminiscent of the head of a fiddle. Fiddlenecks are in the family Boraginac ...

known by the common name large-flowered fiddleneck. This is a wildflower

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 ...

to California and considered a Critically endangered species on the state and national level.

Distribution

The last remaining native populations are on the grasslands near

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in response ...

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Al ...

. Other populations have been established in nearby protected areas. The plant is endangered due to a number of factors, including

invasive plants An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

, grazing, and development of the valuable land. In the California grasslands, fire is commonly used to control the exotic species, however it negatively affects the native species that live there like Amsinckia grandiflora. Due to the use of fire, the population of the organism is decreasing.Espeland, E. K., Carlsen, T. M., Macqueen, D.(2005). Fire and dynamics of granivory on a California grassland forb. Biodiversity and Conservation, 14(2), 267–280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-5044-7 This fiddleneck has low reproductive output; it produces few seeds per plant. It is also

heterostylous Heterostyly is a unique form of polymorphism and herkogamy in flowers. In a heterostylous species, two or three morphological types of flowers, termed "morphs", exist in the population. On each individual plant, all flowers share the same morph. ...

, making the plant

self-incompatible Self-incompatibility (SI) is a general name for several genetic mechanisms that prevent self-fertilization in sexually reproducing organisms, and thus encourage outcrossing and allogamy. It is contrasted with separation of sexes among individuals ...

, which means individuals cannot breed with other individuals of the same morph. This often prevents reproduction. This fiddleneck is also sensitive to habitat; it grows on

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock (geology), rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic matter, organic particles at Earth#Surface, Earth's surface, followed by cementation (geology), cementation. Sedimentati ...

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

in mesic areas of its range. The Livermore Laboratory is actively monitoring the status of this California endemic.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentCalifornia Plant Conservation
grandiflora Endemic flora of California Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Natural history of Alameda County, California Critically endangered flora of California Endemic flora of the San Francisco Bay Area {{Asterid-stub