The Biogeography of  California Goldfields (Lasthenia californica)
 

by Jonathan Lee, student in Geography 316  Fall 2003

Thank you for visiting our site. This web pages was written by a student in Geography 316: Biogeography and edited by the instructor, Barbara Holzman, PhD.  All photos and maps are posted with specific copyright permission for the express use of education on these web pages. The students have tried to be as accurate as possible with the information provided and sources and references are cited at the end of each page.

Species Name: Lasthenia californica

 

Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheobionta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Lasthenia Cass. Species: Lasthenia californica
	Gary A. Monroe @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

 Introduction
Origin of Goldfields

 During the early colonization of the Americas, the Spanish-Californians produced a deck of cards with one being a Jack who always held a flower in his one hand.  This flower was the California goldfield.  The Spanish-Californians called it “Si me quieres, no me quieres” – “Love me, love me not,”- for the maidens had used the flower, as most people do today, as a sign of fortune telling in love ( Parsons 1966).   The Lasthenia genus is comprised of around 20 or so species, with California goldfields (Lasthenia californica) being the most common one.  The taxonomic name was given was changed three different times, first being Baeria gracilis, second Lasthenia chrysostoma, and finally Lasthenia californica. 

Fig. 1 "Carpet" of Goldfields (USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database)

This flower has been nicknamed the “fly-flower” due to small flies that feed on the pollen of these goldfields (Parsons 1966).  The genus name Lasthenia also comes from a female philosopher who was a student of who went by the name of Lasthenia.  The California Goldfields are part of the sunflower (Asteracae) family and share similar physical characteristics as a sunflower does.  They are called “goldfields” because of their widespread growth over an area, causing a field covered in “gold” (Fig. 1).

Natural History:
What does it look like?

California goldfields have tough or fibrous roots and branches into many directions.  Goldfields can grow from the base of the stems, which are very thick and strong, as well as the point where the leaf is connected to the stem (also called the node).  Their reddish stems contain tiny hairs at the bottom of the base and form narrow leaves up to 2.5 inches long.  With disk shaped heads forming at the end of the stem are tiny petals that stem out from the disk, surrounding the disk with yellow petals.  The heads in goldfields are larger that those of other species due to luring pollinators, whereas other species who self pollinate have smaller heads.  These yellow petals are actually florets that grow in different sizes.  Depending on the environment, the leaves grow on different lengths of the stem, which are also called axils.  Goldfields that grow close to the desert produce leaves that are on the lower stem or axils.  Inland and coastal goldfields have leaf blades growing higher in the axils (Ornduff 1966).  They have yellow petals which include the disk-like flower head.  Coastal goldfields have leaves that are more leathery, while the ones that are inland have thinner leaves.  How much the leaves absorb is also due to how salty the soil is, the higher the salinity, the more succulent the leaves are. 

They grow annually from March till May and can grow from two to ten inches tall.  However, California goldfields that grow in the inland are at a bigger disadvantage in terms of lifespan and germination.  As mentioned before, they grow from March till May but the coastal goldfields can grow until July due to earlier germination.  California Goldfields can spread from eight to eighteen inches wide and have narrow leaves.    Moderate amounts of water is needed for them to grow and will grow taller if more water is given to them.  California goldfields in the inland don’t receive as much moister as the coastal species do which also shows why they only bloom till May (Orduff 1966).   They produce seeds during the autumn.

California goldfields are not self pollinators, but breed with other individuals.  This is called out breeding.  They are incompatible within themselves and therefore require breeding through another invidual.  They germinate if a lot of moisture is taken in, most likely in heavy rains and this causes them to grow longer.  As the disk florets open, they shoot out pollen which insects such as flies, bees, beetles, and moths take the pollen and the pollinate into other flowers (Ornduff 1966). 

California goldfields, along with other plants in the same genus, are characterized by their composition of tiny flowers within one flower.  Unlike other flowers, many tiny flowers are comprised inside the disk of the goldfields which produces seeds.  Even the petals themselves are made up of individual flowers. 

 Evolution:
 Where did it come from?

Cladogram of evolutionary species in the genus Lasthenia (Raymund, 2002) (Fig. 2)

The Lasthenia genus is closely related to the Heleniae tribe.  The Eriophyllum, part of the Heleniae tribe, is thought of to be the descendent of common day goldfields.  Although it is not sure whether which ancestor is the primary one for the goldfields, they share very similar resemblances in traits and genes.  It was Constance, in 1937, who studied and discovered the Eriophyllum and marked out certain growing habits that was closely related to the Lasthenia genus and decided that it was part of it.  The ancestral flower had lived in similar geographical regions and also grew from the same habits and environment.  The ancestor of Lasthenia was also an outbreeder, along with leaves in different points of the leaf stalk and grew many florets.  As shown in Fig.2, the closest relative to the L. californica is the L. macrantha.  The reason they are closely related is due to the fact that they can easily breed within each other, exchanging genes with no problems (Ornduff 1966).  During the course of evolution, the Lasthenia had changed in the shape of their leaves, and loss of pappus.  The length of the ray was also decreased along with the number of flora, pollen grain number, and breeding for the other species of Lasthenia.  However, it is not entirely clear whether the Lasthenia genus is truly related to the Heleniae tribe or not. This shows why there is possibly another ancestral root to the goldfields but is also very unclear whether the Amyblyopappus is related or not.  The Heleniae tribe dates back to the Miocene and Pliocene era.  During these times, the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley were at very low elevations or submerged.  The flowers that grew in these valleys would be very similar to the ones grown in vernal pools.  California Goldfields grow mostly along the coastal areas of California, including West Oregon.  During the Pleistocene era, the valleys in western Oregon were flooded.  This explains why there are so many goldfields growing around that coastal area of Oregon.   The morphological changes were made through the constant changes of temperatures through the thousands of years.  Goldfields nowadays are adapted to the wet winters and dry summer climates that were not apparent during the Pleistocene era.  Along with climate changes, age also played a factor in the evolutionary change of goldfields.  The older species were more genetically diverse and were less restricted to the ones living today.  The older species could shoot pollen further which allowed them to spread in a wider and longer range, covering more area.  With pollen going further, they were able to crossbreed with other plants, causing a variety of breeds which explained why they were genetically diverse.  The goldfields today cover also a considerate amount of land but less than their ancestors did (Ornduff 1966).

  Distribution::  
Where are they?

Fig. 3 Distribution of California Goldfields (USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database)

 Being a native plant to California, California goldfields grow in California and mostly along the western coast of the United States.  There is also a related species that grows in Chile.  This shows a disjunct distribution.  Moisture plays a huge role in the growth of goldfields.  As mentioned earlier, coastal goldfields are more likely to live longer and germinate earlier, having a longer lifespan than the ones inland.  They mostly grow in ditches, vernal pools, and pond margins. 

Vernal pools are wetland areas with dry summers.  These wetlands are caused by flooding into depressed areas with soil that is impermeable, causing the water to stay there for a longer time.  Vernal pools played in a huge role for Native Americans.  As mentioned in the beginning, Native Americans went to vernal pools to collect seeds from various plants, including the goldfield, which then was made into “pinole” or seed stew.  It was also a tradition for Indians to use vernal pools as initiation ceremonies for females using flowers such as the goldfields as ornaments around their body.  Goldfields that rely on moisture take from these pools and with enough water, can then start to germinate.  These plants grow from between 100-2500 feet elevation.  They grow mostly in lower foothills, valleys, and plains.  Distribution is mostly due to temperatures and they grow from receiving low to moderate water.

 Pond margins are similar to vernal pools in that they are both wetland type habits but pond margins are more to the edge of ponds rather than a "dip" in the land filled with water under impermeable soils.  Pond margins have a wide diversity of species just as do vernal pools have.  It's not surprising that goldfields would find a place to grow around these areas because of moist soils and atmosphere. 

Conclusion
How are they now?
Goldfields itself are not becoming endangered but the habitats that they live in are being in endangered which will cause the goldfields to be endangered also.  Species such as the L. conjugens that grow in Contra Costa County have vernal pools that are undergoing stress from urban planning, conversion to agricultural land and irrigation.  Vernal pools contain a huge biodiversity in plants along with animals and insects.  Currently, the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife services have put into course of action to restore these vernal pools from being destroyed. 

Bibliography
Bohm B. A. N. A. M. Saleh R. Ornduff 1974 The flavonoids of Lasthenia (Compositae). American Journal of Botany 61: 551-561

 Chan R. K.-G. 2000 Molecular systematics of the goldfield genus Lasthenia (Compositae: Heliantheae sensu lato). Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

 Munz, Philip A. (Online).  Introduction to California spring wildflowers.  Berkeley: University of California Press.

 Natural Resources Conservation Services: ( 2003) Lasthenia Californica (online) Available: http://plants.usda.gov/cgi_bin/plant_profile.cgi?symbol=LACA7#classification

 Ornduff R. 1966 A biosystematic survey of the goldfield genus Lasthenia (Compositae: Helenieae). University of California Publications in Botany 40: 1-92

 Parsons, Mary E. 1966 The Wildflowers of California Dover Publications, Inc., New York

 Presido of San Francisco (2004) California Goldfields (Online) Available: http://www.nps.gov/prsf/nathist1/wildflowers/yellows/california_goldfields.htm

Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office Species Account (1998) Contra Costa Goldfields  (Online) Available:  http://sacramento.fws.gov/es/plant_spp_accts/contra_costa_goldfields.htm

The Vernal Pool Association (2005) Vernal Pools (Online) Available:  http://www.vernalpool.org/vernal_1.htm

 Wildflowers and Weeds (2005) Patterns of the Aster of Sunflower Family (Online) Available: http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Families/Asteraceae.htm#

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