Plagiobothrys figuratus

common names Fragrant Popcorn Flower

Abbreviation code: PLFI

Taxonomy

• Kingdom: Plantae
• (unranked): Angiosperms
• (unranked): Eudicots
• (unranked): Asterids
• Order: (unplaced)
• Family: Boraginaceae
• Genus: Plagiobothrys
• Species: P. figuratus

Description

General: Appressed-hairy annual from fibrous roots, the simple to moderately branched stem 1-4 dm. tall.

Leaves: Leaves all cauline, linear, sometimes elongate, the lower 2-4 pairs opposite, the others alternate.

Flowers: Inflorescence of naked spikes, tending to be paired, becoming elongate; calyx 3-4 mm. long, with yellowish, loose hairs; flowers fragrant, white with a yellow eye; corolla tube narrow, the 5 lobes abruptly spreading, the limb 5-10 wide; hairy appendages opposite the corolla lobes at the top of the tube; nutlets attached to the style in a small area near the base.

Fruit: Nutlets 4, ovate, 1.2-1.7 mm. long, keeled, rough

Bloom Period

May-July

Habitat

Moist to mesic coastal bluffs in the lowland zone; rare on SE Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, known recently only from Whaling Station Bay (Hornby Island); S to OR.