''Chorizanthe diffusa'' is a species of flowering plant in the

buckwheat family The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus ''Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 ...

known by the common name diffuse spineflower. 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 ...

, where it grows on the coastline and mountains of the Central Coast, in sandy scrub, woodland, and forest habitat. It is erect to prostrate in form, its stem generally no longer than 15 or 20 centimeters. The leaves are up to 2 centimeters long and mainly arranged about the base of the plant. 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 ...

is a cluster of flowers, each surrounded by six hook-tipped

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 margins of the bracts proximal to the long hooked tip may be very thin and nearly invisible to wide and obvious, and they may be green to white to purplish. The flower itself is about 3 millimeters wide and white with a yellow throat. The tips of its

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 may be smooth or jagged or toothed.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Chorizanthe diffusa'' (Diffuse spineflower)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Chorizanthe diffusa''UC Photos gallery: ''Chorizanthe diffusa''
diffusa Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of Monterey County, California Natural history of San Luis Obispo County, California Natural history of Santa Barbara County, California Natural history of Santa Cruz County, California Taxa named by George Bentham {{Polygonaceae-stub