Synthyris reniformis
Encyclopedia
Synthyris reniformis is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family
known by the common name snow queen, or snowqueen. It is native to the Pacific coast of the United States from the Puget Sound
to San Francisco Bay Area
, where it grows in the forests of coastal and inland hills and mountains. It is a perennial herb growing up to about 15 centimeters tall. It has a rosette of basal leaves with hairy, lobed, heart-shaped or kidney-shaped blades borne on long petioles
. The inflorescence
is a small raceme
of pale blue, lavender, or nearly white flowers each just under a centimeter long. The corollas are bell-shaped, the tube spreading into short lobes at the mouth, with two stamen
s tipped with large anthers.
Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, are a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is Plantago L..In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have...
known by the common name snow queen, or snowqueen. It is native to the Pacific coast of the United States from the Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
to San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, where it grows in the forests of coastal and inland hills and mountains. It is a perennial herb growing up to about 15 centimeters tall. It has a rosette of basal leaves with hairy, lobed, heart-shaped or kidney-shaped blades borne on long petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a small raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of pale blue, lavender, or nearly white flowers each just under a centimeter long. The corollas are bell-shaped, the tube spreading into short lobes at the mouth, with two stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s tipped with large anthers.