Sanicula saxatilis

Sanicula saxatilis is a rare species of flowering plant in the parsley family known by the common names devil's blacksnakeroot[1] and rock sanicle.

Sanicula saxatilis

Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Eudicots
(unranked):
Asterids
Order:
Apiales
Family:
Apiaceae
Genus:
Sanicula
Species:
S. saxatilis
Binomial name
Sanicula saxatilis

Distribution

It is endemic to the eastern San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is known only from Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton, both in the Diablo Range.

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.[2]

Description

Sanicula saxatilis 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 foliage 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.

See also
  • Natural history of Mount Diablo
  • Endemic flora of the San Francisco Bay Area
  • Flora of the California chaparral and woodlands

References
  1. "Sanicula saxatilis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  2. The Nature Conservancy
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