Bright red sprouts! Is this a hemiparasitic species ??

Submitted by Weiser on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 19:46

I photographed these new shoots emerging at the base of a clump of Whitebark pine(Pinus albicaulis). The location is Alpine County, CA, USA. On the trail from Carson Pass to Winnemucca Lake. We had just passed Frog Lake the elevation was in the region of 8600' (2 621m). I feel it may be a hemiparasitic species due to it's late emergence. This plant was just emerging in late July.
The bright red caught my eye right away.

The second shot is of a sprout that is in leaf and bud.

Comments


Submitted by Lori S. on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 19:06

It puts me in mind of Asclepias... the leaf venation, particularly.  I can't tell definitively from the photos if the leaves are opposite or not... but I get the sense that they are opposite... ?


Submitted by Hoy on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 13:28

Weiser, your plant looks like plants here when sprouting still covered by snow. When the snow cover melts the shoots have exactly this red and yellow color. Maybe a late melted heap of snow there?
I do not think it is a hemiparasitic plant though, but I can't swear on it.


Submitted by RickR on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 16:51

Skulski wrote:

It puts me in mind of Asclepias... the leaf venation, particularly.  I can't tell definitively from the photos if the leaves are opposite or not... but I get the sense that they are opposite... ?

But the flower buds don't seem to be arranged in umbels...


Submitted by Weiser on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 21:18

Thank you all for taking a stab at this. I wish I had picked a leaf to see if it had milky sap. With all the hiking I do I will probably run across this one again. I have a good freind who takes a lot of photos for the USDA Data Base, the Jepson Manual and Calflora I will see if he is willing to venture a guess. Again thank you all for your input.

John


Submitted by Weiser on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 18:00


Submitted by Mark McD on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 21:14

Oh man, I was chasing this down myself, I love a good mystery, and was exploring both Polygonum and Rumex, and believe it or not Paeonia californica (based on John's 1st photo, but the second photo shows more developed leaves which told me it wasn't that, but one starts imagining things when doing these ID puzzles).

Great detective work John!  The next to last Calphoto showing the sprouts of Polygonum davisiae nails the ID.