Search / Plant Profile / Calyptridium arizonicum

Plant Profile

Arizona Pussypaws (Calyptridium arizonicum)

Photo Credit: Duncan S. Bell

Global Rank: T2 - Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Portulacaceae
State: AZ, CA
Nature Serve ID: 145097
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 10/29/2019

Description:

Annual with a slender taproot and both basal and cauline leaves. The basal leaves wither when the plant is in fruit. The inflorescenses have stout pedicles and ovate to elliptic bracts. Seeds are shiny with no papillae.

Where is Arizona Pussypaws (Calyptridium arizonicum) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Coarse, well- drained soils in desert scrub and washes.

Distribution:

Within California, Calyptridium arizonicum is limited to a single canyon in the North Pinyon Mountains of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. More common outside of California in southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico.

States & Provinces:

Arizona Pussypaws can be found in Arizona, California

Which CPC Partners conserve Arizona Pussypaws (Calyptridium arizonicum)?

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 10/29/19

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 1 accessions of Calyptridium arizonicum in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 4321 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden has collected 1 seed accessions of Calyptridium arizonicum from 1 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 51 maternal plants

Cheryl Birker

10/30/2019

Although more common outside of California, Calyptridium arizonicum is only known from a single canyon in California. This canyon is located in the North Pinyon Mountains within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and it contains an OHV route and a hiking trail. Calyptridium arizonicum is highly threatened in California due to trampling from OHV and foot traffic.

In 2019 Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden made a conservation seed collection of Calyptridium arizonicum from California Natural Diversity Database Element Occurrence #1. This collection contains 4,321 seeds collected along maternal lines from 51 individuals. The germination test resulted in 27% germination after treating the seeds with Cape Super Smoke Plus Seed Primer.