Creamcups facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Creamcups |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Platystemon
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| Species: |
californicus
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Creamcups are pretty flowering plants. They belong to the poppy family. Their scientific name is Platystemon californicus. This plant is the only type in its group, called a genus. You can find creamcups growing naturally in parts of Oregon, California, Arizona, and Utah in the United States. They also grow in Baja California in Mexico. These plants like open grasslands and sandy places. They usually grow below 6,000 feet (about 1,800 meters) in elevation.
Contents
What are Creamcups?
Platystemon californicus is a plant that can look very different depending on where it grows. Because of this, scientists have sometimes thought there were many different kinds of creamcups. They have even described up to 57 different types!
How They Look Different
The way a creamcup looks often changes based on its location. For example, plants near the coast might be smooth and a bit fleshy. But creamcups in desert areas can be short and very hairy. Some scientists even describe special types called varieties. These are plants that have adapted to live in very specific places.
Plant Features
Creamcups are annual herbs. This means they grow from seed, flower, and die within one year. They are usually a bit hairy, and sometimes very fuzzy. Their stems can be straight or lie on the ground. They grow from 3 to 30 centimeters long.
The leaves grow opposite each other or in circles around the stem. They are long and narrow with smooth edges. Their tips can be rounded or pointed. Leaves are usually 1 to 9 centimeters long.
The Flowers
Each creamcup flower grows by itself. It can grow from where a leaf meets the stem, or from the very top of the stem. The flower sits on a stalk called a peduncle, which is 3 to 26 centimeters long. Each flower has three fuzzy sepals. Sepals are like small leaves that protect the flower bud.
Most creamcup flowers have six petals, but bigger flowers can have more. The petals come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. They are usually 6 to 19 millimeters long. Their tips can be rounded or pointed.
There are five main color patterns for the petals:
- All white
- All yellow
- White with a yellow tip
- White with a yellow base
- White with both a yellow tip and a yellow base
All-yellow petals are not as common. Sometimes, the petals turn a reddish color as they get older. The center of the flower is full of many stamens. Stamens are the parts that make pollen. The ends of the stamens are thick.
Seeds and Pollination
After the flower blooms, it forms a fruit. This fruit is a capsule up to 1.6 centimeters long. It is divided into many small sections. Inside these sections are shiny black seeds.
Creamcup flowers are pollinated in two ways. Sometimes, the wind helps spread their pollen. Other times, special kinds of solitary bees visit the flowers and help with pollination.
See also
In Spanish: Platystemon para niños
