''Erythronium pluriflorum'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family

Liliaceae The lily family, Liliaceae, consists of about 15 genera and 610 species of flowering plants within the order Liliales. They are monocotyledonous, perennial, herbaceous, often bulbous geophytes. Plants in this family have evolved with a fair ...

which is known by the common names manyflower fawn lily, golden fawn-lily, and Shuteye Peak fawn lily.Calflora taxon report, ''Erythronium pluriflorum'' J.R. Shevock, J. Bartel & G. Allen Shuteye Peak fawn lily, manyflower fawnlily
/ref>Flora of North America, Vol. 26 Page 159, Golden fawn-lily, Erythronium pluriflorum Shevock, Bartel & G. A. Allen, Madroño. 37: 268, figures 3. 1991.
/ref>

Description

''Erythronium pluriflorum'' is a wildflower growing from a

bulb In botany, a bulb is structurally a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

4 to 7 centimeters wide. It produces two oval-shaped green leaves and erects thin, naked stalks which may be 8 to over 30 centimeters tall. Each stalk bears from one to ten flowers. The flower has bright yellow curly

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s, each one to three centimeters long which age to a brown or orange color. The other flower parts are also yellow.

Distribution

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 ...

, in the central

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 ...

within eastern

Madera County Madera County (), officially the County of Madera, is a county at the geographic center of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 156,255. The county seat is Madera. Madera County comprises the Madera, CA Metr ...

. It is known only from isolated populations on Chiquito Ridge and

Shuteye Peak Shuteye Peak is a mountain located in the Sierra National Forest in Madera County, California on the highest point of Chiquito Ridge. It's home to the first permanent fire lookout built in the Sierra Nevada. Shuteye Peak is known for its panoram ...

, in the San Joaquin River watershed.California Native Plant Society; Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants (online edition, v8-02), ''Erythronium pluriflorum''
Accessed 2016-02-28. It is listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

by the

California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...

and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

, and is on the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants. The plant was not described until 1991.

Conservation

This species is listed as imperiled due to a combination of factors. Firstly, its historic range is quite small. ''Erythronium pluriflorum'' is known from only six populations, all within the

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of central Sierra Nevada in Central California and bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is kno ...

. Disruption from camping is a threat. However, climate change is the greatest threat to this species "as its habitat requirements include a sliver of area in the subalpine Sierra Nevadas."

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Erythronium pluriflorum'' (Manyflower fawnlily, Shuteye peak fawn lily)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Erythronium pluriflorum''UC CalPhotos gallery: ''Erythronium pluriflorum''
pluriflorum Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of Madera County, California Plants described in 1991 {{Liliales-stub