''Ivesia sericoleuca'' is a species of flowering plant in the

rose family Rosaceae (), the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera. The name is derived from the type genus ''Rosa''. Among the most species-rich genera are ''Alchemilla'' (270), ''Sorbus' ...

known by the common name Plumas mousetail, or Plumas ivesia.

Distribution

The plant 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 eastern

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 Northern

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 onto the southern

Modoc Plateau __NOTOC__ The Modoc Plateau lies in the northeast corner of California as well as parts of Oregon and Nevada. Nearly of the Modoc National Forest are on the plateau between the Medicine Lake Highlands in the west and the Warner Mountains in the ...

. It grows at elevations of , in

sagebrush scrub Sagebrush scrub is a vegetation type (biome) of mid to high elevation Western United States deserts characterized by low growing, drought resistant shrubs including sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata'') and its associates.Karen Wiese, Sierra Nevada ...

yellow pine forest Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast Ranges in the Western United States and Western Canada. In ...

meadows, and freshwater

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

−

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

habitats.

Description

''Ivesia sericoleuca'' is a small perennial herb forming a tuft on the ground. Each leaf is a flat to cylindrical strip of many hairy green leaflets, each individual leaflet 3 to 15 millimeters long and each whole leaf 10 to 20 centimeters long. The mostly naked stem is erect or drooping and reaches a maximum height or length of about . It 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 several clusters of hairy flowers. Each flower is just over a centimeter wide, with triangular reddish-green or yellowish

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 and round to spoon-shaped white petals. In the center of the flower are usually 20

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 several

pistils 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

Calflora Database: ''Ivesia sericoleuca'' (Plumas ivesia, Plumas mousetail)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Ivesia sericoleuca''UC CalPhotos gallery of ''Ivesia sericoleuca''
{{taxonbar , from=Q6098830 sericoleuca Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) ~ ~ ~