''Carlquistia'' is a rare

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n genus of flowering plants in the family

Asteraceae 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 ...

containing the single species ''Carlquistia muirii''. Formerly named ''Raillardiopsis muirii'', the plant was reexamined in the 1990s and moved to a new genus of its own, separate from similar and closely related genera, such as ''

Madia ''Madia'' is a genus of annual or perennial usually aromatic herbs with yellow flowers, in the tribe Madieae within the family Asteraceae.

''.Flora of North America: ''Carlquistia''
/ref> Common names for the species include Muir's tarplant,''Carlquistia muirii''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013 Muir's raillardiopsis, and Muir's raillardella. This plant is related to the

silversword alliance The silversword alliance, also known as the tarweeds, refers to an adaptive radiation of around 30 species in the composite or sunflower family, Asteraceae. The group is endemic to Hawaii, and is derived from a single immigrant to the islands. Fo ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an plants. The genus was named for the American botanist

Sherwin Carlquist Sherwin John Carlquist FMLS (July 7, 1930 - December 1, 2021) was an American botanist and photographer. Education He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1952 and a Ph.D. in botany in 1956, also at ...

(1930-2021). The specific epithet ''"muirii"'' honors Scottish-American naturalist,

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, a ...

(1838-1914).

Description

''Carlquistia muirii'' is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennial herb forming clumps or mats of stems with hairy green pointed leaves up to about 4 centimeters long. Leaves are arranged oppositely on the lower stem, and alternately higher up. 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 usually made up of a solitary

glandular In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

flower head A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

on an erect stalk. The head contains many 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 but no

ray florets 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 ...

. The fruit is a very narrow

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 ...

which may exceed one centimeter in length including its pappus of plumelike bristles.

Distribution

''Carlquistia muirii'' 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 ...

. It has a discontinuous distribution, occurring in the southern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

(

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, Tulare, and Kern Counties) and on the other western side of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

around the

Ventana Double Cone The Ventana Double Cone at is one of the tallest peaks in the Ventana Wilderness within the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest in Central California. The summit is a difficult hike from the nearest trail head, making it o ...

in the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Mountains (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than from t ...

of Monterey County.Calflora taxon report, University of California, ''Carlquistia muirii'' (Gray) B.G. Baldwin Muir's tarplant
/ref>

References

External links

''Carlquistia muirii''.
United States Department of Agriculture plants profile
''Carlquistia muirii''.
CalPhotos photo gallery, University of California. {{Taxonbar, from1=Q5042867, from2=Q15986349 Monotypic Asteraceae genera Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Madieae