[Popcornflowers: The Genus Plagiobothrys East of
the Cascade Mts. of Oregon and Washington]
Cascade Popcorn Flower, Eastside Popcorn Flower, Matted Popcorn Flower, Allied Plagiobothrys, Sleeping Popcorn Flower
Plagiobothrys hispidulus
Synonyms: Allocarya cognata, Allocarya cusickii, Allocarya hispidula, Plagiobothrys cognatus, Plagiobothrys cusickii, Plagiobothrys scopulorum, Plagiobothrys scouleri, Plagiobothrys scouleri var. cusickii, Plagiobothrys scouleri var. hispidulus, Plagiobothrys scouleri var. penicillatus
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Matted popcornflower as seen in vernally moist swales along the old Sprague Highway between Sprague, WA and Fishtrap........May 11, 2016.
The photo at right shows the stem and stem leaves of Scouler's popcorn
flower as seen in the drying mud of a pond dug into the grasslands along the
crest of the Columbia Hills to the north of The Dalles, OR..........June 1,
1997.
Characteristics:
Matted popcorn flower is an annual wildflower
with several to many prostrate to ascending stems as much as 20 cm long arising
from a taproot or fibrous root system. The stems generally are prostrate to ascending. The herbage of the leaves and stems consists
mostly of appressed, stiff and straight hairs. The leaves are linear in shape
and up to 6.5 cm long and 5 mm wide and found mostly on the stems. The lowermost
1-4 pairs of leaves are opposite while the uppermost are alternate.
The flowers are scattered along the stems. The calyx is 2-4 mm long in fruit
with lanceolate lobes. The small flowers are about 1-2 mm wide.
Habitat:
Scouler's popcorn flowre may be found in moist, poorlly drained soils that
dry out by mid-summer. They may be found from the lowlands to elevations as
high as 3000 meters in the mountains.
Range:
Scouler's popcorn flower may be found from British Columbia south to California
and east to Saskatchewan and Manitoba and south to New Mexico.
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The photo at left shows matted popcorn flower as seen in a vernally moist swale along Forest Service Road 16 at the wildlife viewing area in Logan Valley, Malheur National Forest......June 23, 2011. The photo at center and at right show matted popcorn flower as seen in vernally moist swales in uplands west of the North Fork Crooked River about one and one-quarter miles south of the junction of FS Roads #42 and #4215, Ochoco National Forest.........June 12, 2015.
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Matted popcorn flower as seen in vernally moist pools at the junction of Miller Ranch Road and the Sprague Highway on BLM lands at the Fishtrap Lake Unit..........April 28, 2014. These are young plants just coming up out of the wet mud.
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Matted popcornflower as seen at Ochoco Forest Camp, Ochoco National Forest.........May 29, 2016. What may be matted popcornflower observed in drying streambeds along Indian Creek, northwest corner of Big Summit Prairie, Ochoco National Forest.......May 27, 2018.
Matted popcornflower as seen in meadows along Bear Creek just to the west of Forest Service Road #1640, Malheur National Forest........July 2, 2006.
Paul Slichter