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May 13, 2008 : Boschniakia strobilacea
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Plant Family / Families: Orobanchaceae
Scientific Name and Author: Boschniakia strobilacea A. Gray
Map Location: via Google Maps
Name Location: Siskiyou National Forest, near Selma, Oregon, USA
Last week, I visited the Siskiyou National Forest in southwest Oregon as part of a plant expedition. The primary purpose of this particular expedition was to waypoint locations and collect herbarium specimens in anticipation of subsequent trips for seed collection. The joint expedition had participants from UBC Botanical Garden, UBC Herbarium and the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.
The Siskiyous area is known for its endemic plant species, and I'll feature a few of the ones we spotted in future entries. For now, though, enjoy this oddity that has a slightly broader distribution (throughout much of California and southern Oregon). California groundcone is a parasitic plant found growing in association with manzanita (Arctostaphylos -- note the two fallen manzanita flowers in the second photograph) or Arbutus.
Only a few species of Boschniakia are recognized: Boschniakia strobilacea, Boschniakia hookeri (native from California north to British Columbia) and Boschniakia rossica (native to northwestern Canada, Alaska and temperate northeastern Asia). Boschniakia himalaica, a native of eastern temperate Asia, is also sometimes considered a species (presumably segregated from a broader definition of B. rossica) . This leaves me with a bit of a puzzle, as there is a John Davidson photograph of "Boschniakia strobilacea" from Savary Island in British Columbia, which is far outside the range of that particular species. A bit of a head-scratcher, but there are many possible errors: perhaps the location is incorrect (Davidson did travel to California), perhaps B. hookeri wasn't recognized as distinct from B. strobilacea at the time, perhaps the slide metadata is incorrect, and so on...
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at May 13, 2008 11:43 AM
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Comments
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin 
at May 13, 2008 12:28 PM
another plant of interest-thank you
calphoto has a number of nice pictures
do bears really like to eat this plant
Posted by: elizabeth a airhart at May 13, 2008 2:37 PM
Is it possible that since they are on a white sheet, they were collected in California, dried, and then transported to BC, where they were then photographed? Seems highly unlikely but then again, it seems equally unlikely that they were collected there.
Strange also that they would color it green, when it is purple to reddish brown.
Posted by: Joe at May 13, 2008 6:25 PM
In terms of John Davidson's slide, remember that this was a 1912 "lantern slide" which was probably a black & white glass slide that was hand-tinted with water colors after the fact. Note that the background part of the image lacks color. Also, the slide annotation shows "Savay Island" as the location of the "artwork" (colorization ?); may not necessarily be the location of collection.
Posted by: Rick at May 15, 2008 8:25 AM
Boschniakia sounds like German for Bosnian man or someone of Bosnian origin who was a German botanist. Neither fit very well for an East Asian or a Californian plant. I had thought that it was a native of Bosnia but apparently not. So the nomenclature is more of a mystery than the taxonony.
Savay Island you've gotta be kidding Agnes Szavay is tennis star, she had an island named after her before she was born?
Posted by: Alex Jablanczy at May 15, 2008 3:30 PM
Boschniakia strobilacea!!! These are words from my childhood. My father used to say it, just for the fun of it. He was the lightkeeper at Point Atkinson, so lighthouse park was our back yard. On many of our frequent walks through the trails, we would look for Boschniakia strobilacea. Of course we never found any, but it was such fun. Thanks for triggering a nice memory, Daniel!
Posted by: Ruth raymond at May 17, 2008 2:30 PM
Rick, I'm fairly certain that location of the artwork means where the original photograph was taken - in this case, Savary Island, British Columbia. Interestingly, Ian Cummings took a photograph of Boschniakia hookeri on Savary Island last weekend.
Posted by: Daniel Mosquin at May 23, 2008 2:07 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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PS Congrats to David in LA for answering my “stumper” regarding this plant.