''Kalmiopsis fragrans'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name North Umpqua kalmiopsis. 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 ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the United States, where there are just a few known populations, all within Douglas County.''Kalmiopsis fragrans''.
The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 10-16-2011. This plant has been known since the 1950s but it was generally treated as a form of '' Kalmiopsis leachiana''.''Kalmiopsis fragrans''.
Flora of North America. Retrieved 10-16-2011. In 2007 it was separated and described as a new species.Meinke, R. J. and T. N. Kaye. 2007. ''Kalmiopsis fragrans'' (Ericaceae), a new distylous species from the southern Cascade mountains of Oregon. ''Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas'' 1(1): 9-19. It differs slightly from ''K. leachiana'' in the size and shape of the flower.

Description

''Kalmiopsis fragrans'' is a

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

which grows tall. The aromatic, glandular green leaves are oval or oblong in shape and variable in size, up to about at the largest. 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 ...

bears 2 to 12 showy pink flowers each in diameter. The protruding

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 are tipped with purple anthers and have tufts of yellow hairs around the bases. The plant is distylous, some individuals having long stamens and a short

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'' ...

, and some having short stamens and a long pistil.

Distribution and habitat

The ''Kalmiopsis fragrans''

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

is limited to a small strip of territory along the North and South

Umpqua River The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

in the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

of southwestern Oregon. It grows in rocky habitat, such as

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

slopes and piles of boulders, and can take hold in areas with very little soil. The rock type frequently associated with the shrub is

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

. Other plants in the area include several types of

conifers Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...

as well as Oregon-grape (''Mahonia nervosa''), ocean spray (''Holodiscus discolor''),

salal ''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria. Description ''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, spra ...

(''Gaultheria shallon''),

redwood sorrel ''Oxalis oregana'' , known as redwood sorrel or Oregon oxalis, is a species of the wood sorrel family, Oxalidaceae, in the genus ''Oxalis'' native to moist Douglas-fir and coast redwood forests of western North America from southwestern British ...

(''Oxalis oregana''), western sword fern (''Polystichum munitum''),

twinflower ''Linnaea'' is a plant genus in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, the genus included a single species, ''Linnaea borealis''. In 2013, on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, the genus was expanded to include species f ...

(''Linnaea borealis''), wood rose (''Rosa gymnocarpa''), pinedrops (''Pterospora andromedea''), fringed pinesap (''Pleuricospora fimbriolata''), sugar stick (''Allotropa virgata''), Pacific rhododendron (''Rhododendron macrophyllum''),

vine maple ''Acer circinatum'', the vine maple, is a species of maple native to western North America. Description It most commonly grows as a large shrub growing to around tall, but it will occasionally form a small to medium-sized tree, exceptionall ...

(''Acer circinatum''),

poison oak Poison oak refers to two plant species in the genus ''Toxicodendron,'' both of which can cause skin irritation: *''Toxicodendron diversilobum'' or Western poison oak, found in western North America *''Toxicodendron pubescens ''Toxicodendron pub ...

(''Toxicodendron diversilobum''), western rattlesnake plantain (''Goodyera oblongifolia''), false lupine (''Thermopsis montana''), yellowleaf iris (''Iris chrysophylla''), white-veined wintergreen (''Pyrola picta''), northern sanicle (''Sanicula graveolens''), calypso orchid (''Calypso bulbosa''), cream fawnlily (''Erythronium citrinum''), and field woodrush (''Luzula campestris''). The total population of this plant is estimated to be no more than 2500 individuals. Threats to the rare plant include

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

and road construction, but because the plant grows in steep, inaccessible habitat, often in protected areas, some populations may not be affected. Herbivory by animals such as deer may be a threat. The plant may not reproduce efficiently, as evidenced by the apparent lack of

seedling A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...

s, but it probably spreads via

vegetative reproduction Vegetative reproduction (also known as vegetative propagation, vegetative multiplication or cloning) is any form of asexual reproduction occurring in plants in which a new plant grows from a fragment or cutting of the parent plant or spec ...

References

External links

*
''Kalmiopsis fragrans'' - U.C. Photo Gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6354094 Ericoideae Flora of Oregon Endemic flora of the United States Douglas County, Oregon Plants described in 2007