''Nolina cismontana'', the chaparral beargrass, chaparral nolina, California beargrass, Peninsular beargrass, or peninsular nolina, is a rare species of flowering plant of the
Peninsular and
Transverse Ranges in
California. It is
endemic to (known from) only four counties in
Southern California:
Los Angeles,
Orange,
San Diego and
Ventura Counties. There are perhaps 15 to 17 occurrences in existence, with a total population estimated between 10,000 and 20,000.
[The Nature Conservancy]
/ref>
This species, previously classified as a subspecies of ''Nolina parryi
''Nolina parryi'' (Parry's beargrass, Parry nolina, or giant nolina) is a flowering plant that is native to Baja California, southern California and Arizona.
Description
It can exceed in height, its inflorescence reaching . The trunk is up ...
'', was elevated to species status in 1995.[Hess, W. J. and J. C. Dice. (1995). ''Nolina cismontana'' (]Nolinaceae
Nolinoideae is a monocot subfamily of the family (biology), family Asparagaceae in the APG III system of 2009. It used to be treated as a separate family, Ruscaceae sensu lato, s.l. The family name is derived from the Binomial nomenclature, gener ...
), a new species name for an old taxon. ''Novon'' 5:2 162-4. The type specimen is from Trabuco Canyon.[ The two species differ in morphology as well as habitat and ecology.
]
Distribution
''Nolina cismontana'' occurs in coastal mountain ranges in dry chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
and coastal sage scrub habitat on rocky sandstone and gabbro substrates. By contrast, ''N. parryi'' is more often found in woodlands on granite soils.[
The plant is in decline throughout most of its range.][ Threats include destruction and ]fragmentation
Fragmentation or fragmented may refer to:
Computers
* Fragmentation (computing), a phenomenon of computer storage
* File system fragmentation, the tendency of a file system to lay out the contents of files non-continuously
* Fragmented distributi ...
of habitat for development, construction of roads, and agriculture, changes in the fire regime, recreational activity, and non-native species.[
This species is a "fire-follower", experiencing reproduction and prolific blooming after wildfire.][
]
Description
''Nolina cismontana'' grows to in height but can be much taller, reaching well over . At ground level is a rosette of 30 to 90 long, narrow leaves which measure up to long by wide with a widening at the bases. They are stiff, whiplike, or limp, sometimes waxy in texture, and serrated on the edges.
The inflorescence is a compound panicle
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
of whitish flowers interspersed with pointed bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...
s. The plant is dioecious
Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...
, with male and female flowers occurring on separate plants.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Nolina cismontana''
Bioregional/County Distribution Map
Jepson bioregional range with elevation limits MapFlora of North America''Nolina cismontana'' - U.C. Photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolina cismontana
cismontana
Endemic flora of California
Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains
Plants described in 1995