BTK Kern County

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BTK In San Marcos

Brodiaea jolonensis?

Brodiaea elegans

Key To Brodiaeas

Index Of Brodiaea Pages

Brodiaea terrestris ssp. kernensis In Kern County, California
Foothills North of Bakersfield (14 May 2006)

Breckenridge Mountain Road

BTK habitat in grassland along Breckenridge Road.

The upper 2/3 of the staminodes are slightly inrolled along their margins. They are unhooded, unlike Coastal BTK in southern California. In this flower they are essentially erect. The anthers and staminodes have been chewed on by numerous small flower beetles.

The upper 2/3 of the staminodes are inrolled along their margins. They are unhooded, unlike Coastal BTK in southern California. In this flower they are curved slightly outward, away from the stamens. The anthers and staminodes have been chewed on by numerous small flower beetles.

A small flower beetle climbing on the anthers. The anther connective between anther sacs contains a dentate appendage within the W-shaped notch. The staminodia are curved slightly outward away from the stamens.

Dentate appendage (red arrow) in the anther connective, resembling a W-shaped notch. In Monterey County, populations of ssp. terrestris also have a distinct dentate connective. Populations of Coastal BTK in San Diego County contain individuals with a small dentate lobe. In most southern California populations the notch in the connective is entire (without a dentate lobe).

Dentate Anther Connective In BTK and BTT

Variation in anthers of BTK in Kern County. Anther connectives range from an entire V-shaped notch (left) to a definite dentate lobe (right).

The anther connective has a U-shaped notch (red arrow). This flower resembles BTK in the Laguna Mountains of San Diego County. Compare this image with the following flower from Otay Mesa in San Diego County.

BTK from Otay Mesa in San Diego County, grown in Escondido from a corm. The margins of the staminodes are slightly inrolled along the upper 1/4 and top, and qualify as hooded. Although staminodes of BTK in Kern County are slightly inrolled along the upper margins, they are not inrolled at the top, and are therefore unhooded. Note the V-shaped notch in anther connective.

Variation in staminode orientation in Kern County BTK. The inrolled staminodes may lean inward toward stamens or be curved outward away from the stamens.

Wet corms from Brekenridge Mountain showing asexual (clonal) reproduction.

Oak-Grassland Habitat

BTK habitat in an oak-grassland hillside.

The staminodes are slightly curved outwardly (away from the anthers). The upper 2/3 of the staminodes are inrolled along their margins. Unlike populations of Coastal BTK in southern California they are not hooded.

The staminodes are leaning inwardly toward the anthers. A dentate connective is visible on the upper right anther. The upper 1/2 of the staminodes are inrolled along their margins. Unlike populations of Coastal BTK in southern California they are not hooded.

Magnified view of dentate anther connective.

The staminodes are leaning inwardly toward the anthers. The upper 1/2 of the staminodes are inrolled along their margins. The inrolling of the upper portion of these staminodes approaches the hooded staminodes in southern California populations of Coastal BTK.

A 4-merous BTK in Kern County. This unusual flower has 4 stigma lobes, 4 anthers, 4 staminodes, 4 inner and 4 outer perianth segments.

Vascular Strands Of Inner Perianth

The following images were taken at 100 x magnification with a compound microscope and photographed with a Sony V-3 digital camera. The perianth segments were cleared in 10% NaOH and stained with safranin. Small dark patches in the images are bundles of needle-like raphide crystals which are blurred due to insufficient depth of field at this magnification. The following link shows the vascular pattern of the inner perianth segment of Brodiaea jolonensis with a bundle of raphide crystals. The vascular pattern is very different from BTK.

Vascular Strands Of Brodiaea jolonensis

According to T.F. Niehaus, "A Biosystematic Study of the Genus Brodiaea (Amaryllidaceae)," Univ. of Calif. Publications in Botany Vol. 60 (1971), the inner perianth segments of BTK have three primary bundles (outlined in blue), each subdivided into three vascular strands. He calls this pattern 3-3-3. The outer segments have a different pattern which Niehaus describes as 1-2-1. Each strand consists of several intertwined vessels with spirally thickened secondary walls. It is sometimes difficult to demarcate the vascular strands because the vessels may separate from the strand and be out of focus. This is especially true in dried, herbarium specimens in which the inner perianth segments are wrinkled or creased. The above image shows at least nine vascular strands, although they are easier to see in a compound microscope by adjusting the fine focus up and down. It is interesting that Niehaus describes the vascular pattern of inner segments of B. coronaria as 1-2-1. Even if one questions my demarcation of the primary bundles in the above image, there is no way it can be described as two central strands flanked on each side by a single outer strand (a total of four strands).

Another view of the vascular strands of an inner perianth segment of Kern County BTK. Vascular strands consist of several intertwined vessels with spirally thickened secondary cell walls. The strands appear like coiled springs or perhaps railroad tracks. There are at least nine strands in this image. According to Niehaus, inner perianth segments of B. coronaria contain only four strands; therefore, this species cannot be B. coronaria.

Vascular strands of an outer perianth segment of Kern County BTK. The outer segment is readily verified because it is narrower and bears an attached staminode. The three primary bundles are outlined in blue. The middle bundle separates into two vascular strands of intertwined vessels in some places along the midvein; however, the outer bundles also appear to separate into several strands in some places along the segment. This complicates the 1-2-1 pattern described by Niehaus. The bottom line here is that there are fewer total strands compared with the inner perianth segment.

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