Brodiaeas Listed For California

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BTK In San Marcos

Brodiaea jolonensis?

Brodiaea elegans

Key To Brodiaeas

Index Of Brodiaea Pages

Brodiaea Taxa Listed For Southern California
South of San Luis Obispo & Kern Counties to the Mexican Border

W.P. Armstrong, 16 February 2007 (Updated 2 September 2012)

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Taxon	Jepson 1923	Hoover 1939	Munz 1959	Munz 1974	Niehaus 1971 Jepson 1993	Flora of North America 2003	Armstrong & Chester 2006
B. capitata	X			Transferred to the genus Dichelostemma
B. pulchella			X	Transferred to the genus Dichelostemma
B. clementina			X	Transferred to the genus Triteleia
B. ixioides	X
B. laxa			X
B. lugens			X
B. coronaria	X	X	X
B. coronaria var. kernensis		X	X
B. elegans		X	X
B. elegans var. australis					X
Only So. Calif "B. jolonensis"		X	X	X	X	X	"Coastal BTK"
B. synandra	X
B. terrestris	X
B. terrestris ssp. kernensis				X	X	X	X
B. elegans ssp. elegans						X	X
B. filifolia	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
B. filifolia var. orcuttii	X
B. orcuttii		X	X	X	X	X	X
B. kinkiensis			X	X	X	X	X
B. santarosae							X

The red boxes include all taxa synonymous with Brodiaea terrestris ssp. kernensis. The blue boxes include southern CA
populations of B. jolonensis that probably represent an undescribed taxon called "Coastal BTK" by Armstrong & Chester.

Some of these names are currently used for species in central and northern California. Citations in southern California for the species shown in red are synonymous with Brodiaea terrestris ssp. kernensis (BTK). This is a large and variable species complex extending north into Kern and Tulare Counties of central California. Collections of B. jolonensis in southern California, Baja California and some offshore islands (blue boxes) may be an undescribed taxon referred to as "Coastal BTK" by Armstrong & Chester (2006). The Revised Jepson Manual 2nd Edition (2012) refers to "Coastal BTK" under B. jolonensis: "Pls in SW, n Baja CA with green ovaries, white staminodes may be undescribed taxon." Although Santa Barbara populations of "Coastal BTK" typically have white staminodes, populations in southern California have white or purple staminodes. B. jolonensis is endemic to the Coast Range of Monterey County and does not occur in southern California. Southern California populations of "Coastal BTK" generally have hooded staminodes compared with mountain populations where staminodes are usually inrolled along the margins. This undoubtedly explains the confusion between "Coastal BTK" and B. jolonensis which also has hooded staminodes; however, both types of staminodes have been observed in populations of BTK on the Santa Rosa Plateau of Riverside County and Cuyamaca Lake in San Diego County. In addition, corms from populations with inrolled staminodes in the Laguna Mountains developed hooded staminodes when grown in pots in Escondido. Coastal and Montane populations of BTK have a V-shaped or U-shaped notch in the anther connective, although some individuals in coastal populations have a minute dentate lobe at the base of the notch. Populations in Kern County vary from a V-shaped or U-shaped notch to a distinct dentate lobe (W-shaped notch) in the connective. Populations of B. terrestris ssp. terrestris in San Luis Obispo County also have a dentate (W-shaped) connective. This trait is unreliable for separating populations of BTK. Based on vascular patterns of inner perianth segments, "Coastal BTK" with green ovaries appears to be the species on Santa Catalina and San Miguel Islands as well as coastal southern California. B. jolonensis is the only brodiaea species with a distinct purple ovary. Niehaus (1971) reported a diploid chromosome number of 48 for BTK in Kern County. Preliminary studies of San Diego coastal and montane BTK by Dale McNeal (personal communication, 2006) indicate diploid chromosome numbers greater than 40. My count for San Marcos "Coastal BTK" was at least 36. It is interesting to note that Niehaus' chromosome count for B. jolonensis at its type locality near Jolon, Monterey County was 2n=12. Ongoing DNA analysis may solve the Brodiaea puzzle and hopefully determine the correct taxonomic status of the enigmatic "Coastal BTK" in coastal southern California.

Does Brodiaea jolonensis Occur In San Diego County?
Staminode Variation in BTK at Santa Rosa Plateau
Staminode Variation in BTK at Cuyamaca Lake

Literature Cited In Above Table

Chester, T., W. Armstrong, and K. Madore. 2007. "Brodiaea santarosae (Themidaceae), A New Rare Species From the Santa Rosa Basalt Area of the Santa Ana Mountains of Southern California." Madroño 54 (2): 187-198.


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Hickman, J.C. (Editor). 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Hoover, R.F. 1957. "Observations on California Plants-IV." Leaflets of Western Botany 8 (5): 129-133.

Hoover, R.F. 1939. "A Revision of the Genus Brodiaea." American Midland Naturalist 22 (3): 551-574.

Jepson, W.L. 1923. A Manual of the Flowering Plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Munz, P.A. 1974. A Flora of Southern California. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Munz, P.A. and D.D. Keck. 1959. A California Flora. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Niehaus, T.F. 1971. "A Biosystematic Study of the Genus Brodiaea (Amaryllidaceae)." University of California Publications in Botany 60: 1-66.

Pires, J.C. 2003. "Brodiaea." In Flora of North America. Vol. 26 pp. 20, 53, 55, 321, 326, 328, 331, and 332.