Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Divisio: Magnoliophyta
Classis: Magnoliopsida
Ordo: Ranunculales
Familia: Papaveraceae
Subfamiliae: Papaveroideae
Tribus: Platystemoneae
Genus: Platystemon
Species: Platystemon californicus

Name

Platystemon californicus Benth., Trans. Hort. Soc. London. ser. 2, 1: 405. 1834.

References

* Flora of North America (2008). 'eFloras. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA. 2009 Nov 09 [1].

Vernacular names
English: Creamcups

Platystemon is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the poppy family containing the single species Platystemon californicus, which is known by the common name Creamcups. It is native to Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah and Baja California, and is found in open grasslands and sandy soils.[1] It is also used as an ornamental plant for landscaping and revegetation of recently burned areas.

The annual herb is quite variable in appearance. The oppositely arranged leaves are 2 to 8 centimeters long, and in shape linear, lanceolate, or oblong. The plant is hairy in texture, sometimes with very long hairs. The inflorescence is a single flower on a tall peduncle up to 20 centimeters high. The flower has six petals which may be pure white or golden or white with large gold spots or gold tips. The center of the flower is filled with a tuftlike cluster of many thick, flattened stamens. The fruit is a capsule with several one-seeded sections that break apart.

Notes

1. ^ "P. californicus Benth.". Treatment from the Jepson Manual. Jepson Herberia: University of California, Berkeley. http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Platystemon+californicus. Retrieved 26 April 2010.

References

* Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11892.