Sphenosciadium capitellatum (Ranger's Buttons)

8/15/11 Onion Valley, Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra, Inyo County, CA

7/8/00 Streamside, approaching campground/trailhead 9,200'

Onion Valley, Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra, Inyo County, CA

 7/8/00 Onion Valley

 7/6/02 Onion Valley

8/4/02 Trail to Round Valley, Mt. San Jacinto State Park, Riverside County, CA

7/8/16 Off Mill Creek along Lundy Canyon Trail, Inyo National Forest, 
Eastern Sierra, Mono County, CA

7/7/16 Campsite next to Green Creek, Toiyabe National Forest,
Eastern Sierra, Mono County, CA

 7/3/16 North Lake Road, Bishop region, Eastern Sierra,

Inyo National Forest, Inyo County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:
COMMON NAME: Ranger's Buttons, Swamp Whiteheads

SPECIES: Sphenosciadium capitellatum

FAMILY: Apiaceae (Carrot Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 7/8/2000

LOCATION: Onion Valley, Inyo National Forest, Eastern Sierra, Inyo County, CA

*******************************************************************************

Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Perennial, ± scabrous; root tuberous

Stem erect, 5–18 dm, generally branched, leafy

Leaf: petiole 1–4 dm; blade 1–4 dm, oblong to ovate, 1–2-pinnate or ternate then pinnate, leaflets 1–12 cm, generally ± lanceolate, acute, sparsely toothed to irregularly cut or pinnately lobed; cauline leaf sheaths conspicuously enlarged

Inflorescence: umbels compound, tomentose; peduncle 7–40 cm; bracts 0; bractlets many, linear, bristle-like; rays 4–18, 1.5–10 cm, ascending to reflexed; pedicels reduced to a disk; 2° umbels head-like, spheric

Flower: calyx lobes 0; petals obovate, white or purplish, tips narrowed; styles slender

Fruit 5–8 mm, wedge-shaped-obovate, very compressed front-to-back, tomentose; ribs unequally winged, marginal wider than others; oil tubes per rib-interval 1; fruit axis divided to base

Seed: face ± flat

Ecology: Wet meadows, streamsides, lakeshore

Elevation: 900–3000 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Inner North Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, High Sierra Nevada, Southwestern California, Great Basin Floristic Province 

Distribution outside California: to Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Baja California

Flowering time: Jul–Aug

TOXIC to livestock, but rarely eaten

Horticultural information: WET: 1, 2, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16; DFCLT.