Arctomecon
| Arctomecon | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Arctomecon | ||||||||||||
| Torr. & Frém. |
Arctomecon is a genus from the poppy family(Papaveraceae). The three species that belong to this genus occur exclusively in the east of the Mojave Desert of North America. They grow there in the driest parts of the desert where few other plants thrive. The plants of this genus are called bear poppies ( bear poppies ) or bear paw poppies ( bear paw poppies )because of their characteristic leaf shape. All three species are very rare and sometimes only occur in a few populations.
description
The species in the genus are short-lived perennial herbaceous plants that form a taproot . The leaves stand together in a basal rosette. The blue-green leaves are 3 to 20 centimeters long, widest at the front end (up to 5 centimeters), three to seven-lobed in front. The leaf lobes end in a thorn. The leaves are densely covered with long, white hairs. The upright inflorescence stem is coarse hairy in the lower area, smooth above and has only a few small, foliage-like bracts . The umbrella-shaped zymous inflorescence contains three to 20 flowers . The flowers are hermaphroditic and radial symmetry . The two to three sepals are smooth or sparsely hairy. The usually six, rarely four to eight, petals are bright yellow or white. There are numerous stamens present. The stamens end at the same level as the stigma or only slightly protrude from it. Four or five carpels have become an ovary grown. Fertilized flowers form an oval capsule fruit that can contain up to 100 seeds. The capsule opens with four to five longitudinal slits that extend no more than a quarter of the length of the fruit. The seeds are glossy black and have a distinct aril .
species
- Arctomecon californica Torr. & Frém. is the largest species in the genus. The stems can reach a length of 60 centimeters. The flowers are yellow and can reach a diameter of up to nine centimeters. The distribution area are the hills east of Las Vegas , the Grand Canyon National Park and the area around Lake Mead . Occasionally this plant also grows on fallow land in settlements.
- Arctomecon merriamii Coville is similar to Arctomecon californica , but has white flowers. The species is commonly found in the Mojave Desert west and north of Las Vegas. The distribution area extends to Death Valley .
- Arctomecon humilis Coville also has white flowers, but is much smaller and less hairy than the other two species. The plant is extremely rare and isfertilizedby a very rare recluse bee , the Perdita meconis . The range is a very small area near St. George , Utah.
literature
- Christopher Gray-Wilson, Poppies . Portland: Timber Press 2000, pp. 226-229. ISBN 0-88192-503-9
- Stephan L. Buchmann, Gary Paul Nabhan: The forgotten pollinators . Covelo: Island Press , Washington 1996, ISBN 1-55963-353-0 (pbk).
