Plagiobothrys nothofulvus

Plagiobothrys nothofulvus is a species of flowering plant in the family Boraginaceae known by the common names rusty popcornflower and foothill snowdrops. It is native to western North America from Washington, and California, to northern Mexico. It is a spring wildflower in grassy meadows, woodlands, coastal sage scrub, and wetland-riparian habitats.

Wikipedia-Autoren · CC BY-SA · Quelle

It is an annual herb with deep roots, especially on drier soils.[citation needed] It grows up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in height. It contains purple sap, the herbage edged with purple or rusty red and bleeding purple when crushed. It is hairy in texture, the hairs rough and sharp.[citation needed] The spatula-shaped leaves are up to 10 cm (4 in) long, mostly in a tuft near the base of the stem, with smaller leaves above. Blooming from March to May, the inflorescence is a series of five-lobed white flowers about 6 millimetres (1⁄4 in) wide. The fruit is divided into four nutlets, rounded with a pointed tip about 2 mm long and borne singly, in pairs or triplets which are solidly attached to each other. Reproduction As in many other members of the family Boraginaceae, the flower consists of five petals and are bisexual with both male and female parts represented in the flower. Bees and butterflies are the main pollinators transferring the haploid microgametophyte, or pollen grain, to the pistil. The microgametophyte will then travel down the pistil to the ovule to fertilize the haploid macrogametophyte, or egg. Each pollen grain contains two sperm cells for double fertilization of the egg. One fertilization event forms a diploid zygote and the other fertilization event forms the endosperm of the seed.