E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Plectritis congesta (Lindl.) DC.
sea blush (black cup fungus; rosy plectritis; shortspur seablush)
Caprifoliaceae (Valerian family)
(Previously in Valerianaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Frank Lomer  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #90211)

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Distribution of Plectritis congesta
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Plectritis congesta ssp. congesta

Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, solitary, simple, smooth, 10-60 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves soon deciduous; stem leaves opposite, lowermost leaves spoon-shaped or egg-shaped with short stalks, others more oblong or elliptic and stalkless, smooth, 1-6 cm long, 3-22 mm wide.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of terminal, more or less headlike clusters; corollas white to pale or dark pink 1.5-9.5 mm long, 2-lobed, with a slender spur, the tip usually enlarged; calyces lacking.
Fruits:
Achenes, dry, 2-4 mm long, convex side of body usually keeled, not grooved lengthwise, winged or not, the wing margins not thickened, hairy near the tips or along the margins.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to vernally moist meadows or dry rocky sites in the lowland zone; common in SW BC, rare in the Queen Charlotte Islands; S to CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Plectritis congesta

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 90 161 315
Slope Gradient (%) 3 38 90
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
23 164 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
0 1 3
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
B
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
53
Modal BEC Zone Class
CDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: CDF(19), CWH(2)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is cool mesothermal.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References