[Popcornflowers: The Genus Plagiobothrys in Mount Adams Country]
Fragrant Allocarya, Fragrant Popcornflower, Fragrant Popcorn Flower
Plagiobothrys figuratus
Synonyms: Allocarya figurata,Plagiobothrys figuratus ssp. figuratus, Plagiobothrys figuratus var. figuratus, Plagiobothrys hirtus var. figuratus
The photo above shows a close-up of the inflorescence of fragrant
popcorn-flower as seen in the drying mud of a ditch along Kreps Lane in Conboy
NWR on the southeastern base of Mt. Adams.........May
30, 2006.
The
photo at right shows a close-up sideview of the inflorescence of fragrant popcorn-flower
as seen along Kreps Lane in Conboy NWR on the southeastern base of Mt. Adams ...........May
30, 2006. Note the numerous long, stiff hairs on the calyx lobes.
Characteristics:
Fragrant popcorn flower is an ascending to erect annual wildflower
with solitary stems to more commonly freely branched stems from the base. Plants
range from 15-45 cm high and the roots are fibrous. The herbage is sparsely
to moderately stribose, meaning the hairs are stiff, enlarged at their bases,
and pointed at the tips. The leaves are found mainly on the stems, with the
lower 3-4 pairs opposite and the upper leaves alternate. The lower leaves are
linear and 4-12 cm long while the upper leaves are linear to lanceolate and
range from 1-5 cm long.
The inflorescences are in non-leafy pairs, each coiled tightly
at first and elongating with age. The flowers are showy, 5-10 mm wide with white
corollas and a yellow eye. The flowers are fragrant. The calyx is 3-4 mm long
at maturity and more densely and loosely haired than the stems.
Habitat:
Fragrant popcorn flower may be found in low ground and in moist
fields, water courses, and in wet meadows.
Range:
Fragrant popcorn flower may be found from southern Vancouver
Island south to the west of the Cascades through the Puget trough and Willamette
Valley to southwestern Oregon. It extends eastward into the Columbia River Gorge
to Klickitat County, WA.
Fragrant popcornflower in its typical habitat, a vernally moist stream or shallow pool that dries up by early summer. It frequently blooms with showy downingia (Downingia elegans) which is shown here. Photographed at Conboy Lake National Wildlife Area, Klickitat County, Washington..........July 12, 2011.
The photo above shows a close-up of the upper stem of fragrant popcorn-flower as seen along Kreps Lane in Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge...........May 19, 2007. Note the spreading hairs from the margins of the leaves.
Another close-up view of the flowers of fragrant popcorn-flower as seen along Kreps Lane in Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge..........May 19, 2007. Evidently the middle portion of the flower turns yellow after pollination.
Paul Slichter