Biology:Frasera speciosa
| Frasera speciosa | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Gentianaceae |
| Genus: | Frasera |
| Species: | F. speciosa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Frasera speciosa Douglas ex Griseb.
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Frasera speciosa is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family (Gentianaceae) known by the common names elkweed, deer's ears, and monument plant.[2]
Description
Frasera speciosa is a perennial herb growing from a woody base surrounded by rosettes of large leaves that measure up to 50 centimeters long by 15 wide. It produces a single erect stem which can reach two meters in height. The stem bears whorls of lance-shaped, pointed leaves smaller than those at the base. Each plant has a single very large dark colored root.[3]
The plant is monocarpic, growing for several years and only flowering once before it dies.[4] Flowering is synchronized among plants in a given area, with widespread, picturesque blooms occurring periodically.[5] It is not known why some plants in an area will not flower in a mass flowering event, or what cues the plants rely on to initiate flowering. The inflorescence is a tall, erect panicle with flowers densely clustered at the top and then spread out in interrupted clusters below. Each flower has a calyx of four pointed sepals and a corolla of four pointed lobes each one to two centimeters long. The corolla is yellow-green with purple spots and each lobe has two fringed nectary pits at the base. There are four stamens tipped with large anthers and a central ovary.
It blooms from July to August.[2]
Range and habitat
It is native to the western United States, where it grows in mountain forests, woodlands, and meadows. It tends to grow alone, apart from other members of its species, and is browsed by elk and livestock.[6]
Frasera speciosa was evaluated by NatureServe as G4, "apparently secure", in 1986. This means that at a global level it has fairly low risk of extinction due to an extensive range and/or many populations, but with some uncertainty about if there is any direction for population stability.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 NatureServe (2023). "Frasera speciosa". Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.153644/Frasera_speciosa.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2013, p. 196
- ↑ Barr, Claude A. (1983). Jewels of the plains : wild flowers of the Great Plains grasslands and hills. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 86. ISBN 0-8166-1127-0.
- ↑ Weid, A. and C. Galen. (1998). Plant parental care: Conspecific nurse effects in Frasera speciosa and Cirsium scopulorum. Ecology 79 1657–1668.
- ↑ Taylor, O. R. and D. W. Inouye. (1985). Synchrony and periodicity of flowering in Frasera speciosa (Gentianaceae). Ecology 66 521–527.
- ↑ Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 550. ISBN 0-394-73127-1. https://archive.org/details/westernforests00whit/page/550.
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q3025675 entry
 |  |
