Being in the presence of Stanleya pinnata in bloom had been on my “list” for quite some time, so it was a joy to see it often on a May 2015 trip to the southwest USA.
Desert prince’s plume is the most common of the six or seven species in this genus restricted to western North America. Stanleya is named in honour of Edward Smith Stanley, an English politician and naturalist.
The Flora of North America account for Stanleya pinnata notes the species as being a “perennial, subshrub or shrub”. The difference between each of these growth forms is where the perennating buds occur: below ground for the perennial, at ground level for the subshrub, or elevated above the ground level for the shrub. In harsher (colder) climates, one would expect populations of individual plants to lean more toward the perennial life-form. Conversely, in warmer climates, being a shrub is hypothetically more likely. Of course, I could be wrong–one would need to do the research to confirm. Where conditions are right, plants of desert prince’s plume can reach 1.5m (5 feet) in height. Again, I suspect this would be where plants are shrubs, as they would have a headstart on achieving height each growing season.
Additional photos are available from CalPhotos: Stanleya pinnata and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Stanleya pinnata.
Nature / literature resources: For a time, Edward Smith Stanley was patron of the sometimes-nonsensical Edward Lear. A new book has been written about The Natural History of Edward Lear. If that’s too time-intensive, you could instead read this article on Edward Lear’s Nonsense Botany via American Scientist, or, quicker yet, see some examples.
Great photos! I really love the juxtaposition of the bright vigorous plant against the backdrop of what looks like barren wasteland in comparison. It reminds me of hiking around Sedona, where the often tiny, but also often vibrant plants almost startle you as you discover them emerging from the dry red earth. Also, thank you for the nonsense botany links. They made my day!
Nice shots, great colour.
Daniel,
The “nonsense” botany links are great. Thanks for the link. Although both photos are wonderful, “Early Morning Breeze is exceptional.
As a botany graduate l really enjoied this site. However the new site is no longer enjoyable. The pictures are smaller than postage stamps! Instead of botany picture of the day l suggest you call it botany picture of the nano second.
…are you not able to click on the thumbnails to get the larger images?
illustrations aren’t displaying
Known issue, discussed in comments in previous entries. Will be fixed when I can dedicate time.
For now, refresh page and it should eventually work with a refresh.
Hi Daniel. This time (for me) the photos popped up fast…a second of ellipses and then poof! no need to refresh.
Also, pix were not “smaller than postage-stamps.” I’m using a Macbook with Safari, nothing special. and the larger images come up fine.
Hope this info offers a clue to what’s going on. It’s so wonderful to have BPoD back that a little effort is nothing in comparison! Thank you!
Beautiful photos, thank you. Grateful for your generosity in sharing them.
I also had problems with the pictures not loading but refreshing did the trick.
The first few entries wouldn’t open properly but this one did with a refresh. I clicked on the 2nd photo – -so beautiful, almost like a painting in the background against the sharp focus of the plant. Thank you!
Gabrielle,
The 2nd photo IS like a painting. Glorious! You have an artists eye . . . thank you for pointing that out!
Best,
Love
Daniel, Hi!
I’m DELIGHTED Botany Photo of the Day is BACK! THANK YOU! I loved reading about Stanleya pinnata and it’s status as perennial, sub shrub and shrub . . . fascinating! But just had to tell you I’d never stumbled upon the Edward Lear nonsensical botany before, and I just loved it! THANK YOU FOR THE CHUCKLES! And thanks for bringing BPotD back to your fans!
Best always,
Love
Love Albrecht Howard
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Among the many places this plant grows in California is in denuded deposits of coarse sand and fine gravel left behind by low-elevation rivers and streams during high flows. These plants are invariably herbaceous and can grow to over your head in a single season. Butterflies love the flowers, but nobody eats the plants because they are very efficient accumulators of selenium.
I too am glad BPotD is back.
Stanleya pinnata mostly occurs as isolated plants in badlands that are high in Selenium and therefore do not have much vegetative competition around it. It is a good Selenium indicator and is rarely eaten due to its accumulation of Selenium.
In southeastern Utah around Moab Prince’s Plume is thought to be a marker for uranium! There are some beautiful stands of it on the sandy banks of the Colorado River.