''Ivesia santolinoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the
rose family known by the common names silver mousetail,
[ stellariopsis,][ Sierra mousetail and mousetail ivesia.Jepson Manual Treatment]
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 ...
to 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 grows in several mountain ranges, including the 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 ...
and Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...
.
This is a perennial herb which can be somewhat different in appearance from many other mousetails. Each leaf is made up of many leaflets but they are tiny and overlap tightly to form a woolly, taillike, cylindrical leaf up to 10 centimeters long. The erect, naked stem reaches up to 40 centimeters in height and bears an 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 ...
of flowers. Each flower is up to 8 millimeters wide and has large, round white petals above the much smaller, pointed sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
s. There are 15 stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s and a single pistil
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
.
References
External links
Photo gallery
santolinoides
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{rosoideae-stub