Scoliopus
Genus of plants
title: "Scoliopus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["liliaceae", "endemic-flora-of-california", "natural-history-of-the-california-coast-ranges", "natural-history-of-the-san-francisco-bay-area", "liliaceae-genera", "taxa-named-by-john-torrey"] description: "Genus of plants" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoliopus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of plants ::
|image = scoliopus_biglovii-2.jpg
|image_caption = Fetid adder's tongue
Scoliopus bigelovii
|taxon = Scoliopus
|authority = Torr.
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = Scoliopus bigelovii
Scoliopus, or fetid adderstongue, is a genus of plant within the family Liliaceae consisting of two species, Scoliopus bigelovii and S. hallii. Both are found in deep shaded forests, primarily in the coastal counties of the western United States from central California to northern Oregon. The name "Scoliopus" derives from the Greek words skolios and pous, meaning curved foot, a reference to the shape of the pedicel. Taxonomists believe that Scoliopus is closely related to Calochortus, Prosartes, Streptopus and Tricyrtis, which all have creeping rhizomes as well as styles that divide at the tip.
Description
Scoliopus has two mottled leaves at its base and a long pedicel that, over time, bends and twists so that the fruit touches the ground. The flowers, which bloom in the late winter and early spring, are pale green or yellow when fresh, lined with narrow purple or dark brown veins, with wide, spreading sepals and narrower petals, three stamens, and a three-angled ovary. The flower's nectaries induce insects to enter and crawl around, with pollen generally deposited on the insect's back. Fungus gnats (Sciaridae and Mycetophilidae) are the principle pollinators of Scoliopus bigelovii.
Botanist John Thomas Howell described S. bigelovii as thrusting "ill-scented flowers" from two tightly rolled leaves as soon as they sprout. By the time the leaves develop, "the first fruits are already well formed at the ends of elongate sprawling twisting pedicels."
Species
Two characteristics separating the species are the shade of the flower and the regions where they grow.
::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Description | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:J20160211-0007—Scoliopus bigelovii—RPBG (24911693921).jpg | 120px]] | Scoliopus bigelovii | flowers are greenish |
| [[File:Scoliopus hallii.jpg | 120px]] | Scoliopus hallii | flowers are grayish-yellow. |
| :: |
References
References
- {{PLANTS
- Quattrocchi, Umberto. (2000). "CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names". CRC Press.
- Walter, S.. (2008). "Plant Systematics: a Phylogenetic Approach". Sinauer Associates.
- (1993). "The Jepson Manual". University of California Press.
- (1998). "The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants, Vol. 3". Springer.
- Michael Mesler, James D. Ackerman, Karen L. Lu. 1980. The Effectiveness of Fungus Gnats as Pollinators. American Journal of Botany, 67(4): 564-567.
- Howell, John Thomas. (2007). "Marin Flora". California Academy of Sciences; California Native Plant Society.
- Munz, Philip A.. (1959). "A California Flora". University of California Press.
- Hitchcock, C. Leo. (1976). "Flora of the Pacific Northwest". University of Washington Press.
- "Calflora taxon report: Scoliopus bigelovii".
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