Eryngium aristulatum
Encyclopedia
Eryngium aristulatum is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family
known by the common names California eryngo and Jepson's button celery. This plant is native to California
and Baja California
where it grows in wet places, such as vernal pool
s and flooded meadows. This is a perennial herb with erect, rounded, naked stems, occasionally branching and reaching anywhere from 10 centimeters to nearly a meter in height. Leaves appear near the base and at nodes along the stem and are long and serrated to toothed. The inflorescence
holds rounded flowers with five to eight long, straight, spiky bracts which often have spiny edges and may grow nearly 3 centimeters long. The flower contains white petals and white or purple styles
.
While this is an abundant species altogether, one variety (sometimes considered a subspecies), var. parishii, the San Diego button celery, is listed as an endangered species
on both the California state and national levels.
Apiaceae
The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...
known by the common names California eryngo and Jepson's button celery. This plant is native 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...
and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
where it grows in wet places, such as vernal pool
Vernal pool
Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are temporary pools of water. They are usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe development of natal amphibian and insect species...
s and flooded meadows. This is a perennial herb with erect, rounded, naked stems, occasionally branching and reaching anywhere from 10 centimeters to nearly a meter in height. Leaves appear near the base and at nodes along the stem and are long and serrated to toothed. The inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
holds rounded flowers with five to eight long, straight, spiky bracts which often have spiny edges and may grow nearly 3 centimeters long. The flower contains white petals and white or purple styles
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
.
While this is an abundant species altogether, one variety (sometimes considered a subspecies), var. parishii, the San Diego button celery, is listed as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
on both the California state and national levels.