Calochortus raichei

Calochortus raichei is a rare species of flowering plant in the lily family known by the common name Cedars' fairy-lantern. It is endemic to Sonoma County, California, where it is known only from The Cedars, an unincorporated area outside Guerneville north of Cazadero, just west of Austin Creek State Recreation Area.[1]

Calochortus raichei
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Liliaceae
Genus: Calochortus
Species:
C. raichei
Binomial name
Calochortus raichei
Farwig & Girard

The species is named for botanist Roger Raiche, who collected it in flower in 1982 and it was published by Farwig & Girard[2] as a distinct new species in 1987.[3]

Distribution

It is limited to the ultramafic rock (serpentine soil) at the headwaters of Big Austin and East Austin Creeks which are part of the Russian River watershed. In the East Austin headwaters, it is not only in The Cedars, but extends SE in a contiguous band of ultramafic rock that crosses parts of Murray, Devil, Thompson, Morrison and Gilliam Creeks where it occurs on the flanking slopes. It also occurs in Grasshopper, Danfield, Cedar and House Creeks, which are part of the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River watershed.

Description

Calochortus raichei is a perennial herb from a membranous coated bulb, producing a stem which is typically 2 - 5 dm tall, but can reach 1 meter tall in some years. The gray basal leaf is up to 40 centimeters long, typically withered at flowering; there may be smaller leaves farther up the stem. The herbage of the plant is generally very waxy in texture.[1]

The inflorescence typically bears only one or two nodding flowers as the side branches usually do not develop, but in favored sites the side branches may produce additional flowers (3 - 12), spherical in shape with their petal tips touching. The three sepals are about 2 centimeters long and dull tan to greenish, and the three petals about 4 centimeters in length and yellow,. Both sepals and petals age to orange-bronze. The petals are coated inside and fringed with hairs. The fruit is an angled capsule around 3 -5 centimeters long containing dark brown seeds.[1]

References
  1. Flora of North America, Calochortus raichei
  2. Farwig & Girard (1987). "Calochortus raichei, A New Species from California". Herbertia. 43 (1).
  3. McConahey, M. Enchanted Canyon.The Press Democrat May 8, 2003.
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