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| description |
Member of the figwort family. The flowers are long tubes with
three inflated (balloon-like) sacks near the top. In Valley
Tassels, the inflated sacks have a series of pink, yellow and
black spots which resemble
tiny faces.
Note that the multi-lobed
bract of Valley Tassels is
white tipped. The other owl's-clovers at Mather Field have purple
multi-lobed bracts or simple, green, leaf-like bracts. |
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| life
cycle |
Valley Tassels is an annual. It germinates in the late fall or
early winter. As the weather begins to warm in the early spring,
the plants grow very quickly and bolt up through the grasses to
bloom. Valley Tassels bloom in April. |
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| ecology |
Valley Tassels is a hemi-parasite
on annual plants. The tips of its roots tap into the root system
of the other plant and rob nutrients. Unlike the Vernal Pool
Dodder (Cuscuta howelliana) which is a true parasite,
the Castilleja can only steal a portion of the nutrients it
needs and has to make the rest through photosynthesis.
Most owl's-clovers require very specific environmental
conditions for successful germination and growth. Some years there
will be very few plants or even none, while other years there
might be millions! Very little is know about how the owl's-clovers
are pollinated. |
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