Sanicula saxatilis
Encyclopedia
Sanicula saxatilis is a rare species of flowering plant in the parsley family
known by the common names rock sanicle and devil's blacksnakeroot. It is endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area
of California
, where it is known only from Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton
. Its habitat is mostly rocky chaparral
slopes and talus
. Although it is rare, most occurrences are in remote mountainous locales that are relatively safe from disturbance. This is a perennial
herb
producing a thick stem 10 to 25 centimeters tall from a spherical tuber
. The leaves are compound, each divided into three leaflets which are deeply cut into serrated lobes. The herbage is green to purple and sometimes waxy in texture. The inflorescence
is made up of one or more heads
of bisexual
and male-only
flowers with tiny, curving, pale salmon pink
, yellowish or straw-colored
petals. The fruits are a few millimeters wide and covered in bumps and sometimes bristles.
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 rock sanicle and devil's blacksnakeroot. It is endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
of 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 known only from Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton
Mount Hamilton (California)
Mount Hamilton is a mountain in California's Diablo Range, in Santa Clara County, California. Mount Hamilton, at is the tallest mountain overlooking Silicon Valley, and is the site of Lick Observatory, the first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory. The various summits along its...
. Its habitat is mostly rocky 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...
slopes and talus
Scree
Scree, also called talus, is a term given to an accumulation of broken rock fragments at the base of crags, mountain cliffs, or valley shoulders. Landforms associated with these materials are sometimes called scree slopes or talus piles...
. Although it is rare, most occurrences are in remote mountainous locales that are relatively safe from disturbance. This is a perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
producing a thick stem 10 to 25 centimeters tall from a spherical tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
. The leaves are compound, each divided into three leaflets which are deeply cut into serrated lobes. The herbage is green to purple and sometimes waxy in texture. 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...
is made up of one or more heads
Pseudanthium
A pseudanthium or flower head is a special type of inflorescence, in which several flowers are grouped together to form a flower-like structure. The real flowers are generally small and greatly reduced, but can sometimes be quite large...
of bisexual
Plant sexuality
Plant sexuality covers the wide variety of sexual reproduction systems found across the plant kingdom. This article describes morphological aspects of sexual reproduction of plants....
and male-only
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
flowers with tiny, curving, pale salmon pink
Salmon (color)
Salmon a range of pale pinkish-orange to light pink colors, named after the color of salmon flesh.The web color salmon is displayed at right.The first recorded use of salmon as a color name in English was in 1776...
, yellowish or straw-colored
Straw (colour)
Straw is a colour, a shade of pale yellow, the colour of straw.The first recorded use of straw as a colour name in English was in 1589...
petals. The fruits are a few millimeters wide and covered in bumps and sometimes bristles.