Caulanthus coulteri
Encyclopedia
Caulanthus coulteri is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....

 known by the common name Coulter's wild cabbage. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, where it is a widespread member of the flora in several dry, open habitat types, such as chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...

. This is an annual herb producing a slender, branching stem lined with generally lance-shaped leaves which may be smooth to sharply sawtoothed along the edges. The widely spaced flowers are somewhat bullet-shaped with coats of pouched sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...

s which are bright to deep purple when new and fade to yellow-green. The sepals open to reveal dark-veined petal tips with wavy margins. The fruit is a long, thin silique
Silique
A silique or siliqua is a fruit of 2 fused carpels with the length being more than three times the width. The outer walls of the ovary usually separate when ripe, leaving a persistent partition...

which may approach 13 centimeters in length.

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