Calandrinia ciliata (R.& P.) DC.   =Calandrinia ciliata var. menziesii   Portulacaceae ( Purslane Family)   Native   Red Maids

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Plant Characteristics:  Annual, simple or more usually with several spreading stems from base, these 1-4 dm. long, subglabrous; lvs. well distributed, petioled, narrowly oblanceolate to linear, 2-8 cm. long, somewhat fleshy; fls. in leafy racemes, the pedicels suberect, 0.4-2 cm. long; sepals ovate, short-acuminate, glabrous or hispidulous on margin and midrib, 3-8 mm. long; petals 5, rose-red, rarely white, 4-10 (-14) mm. long; caps. ovoid, 4-7 mm. long, scarcely exceeding calyx; seeds many, black, shining, minutely tuberculate, 0.8-1 mm. in diam.

Habitat:  Common, especially in open grassy places and cult. fields, below 6000 ft.; mostly V. Grassland, Foothill Wd., to a lesser extent in other communities; cismontane Calif., occasional at desert edge; to L. Calif., B.C., Ariz., Son.  Mostly Feb.-May. Variable.

Name:  Named for J.L. Calandrini, 1703-1758, a professor of mathematics and philosophy, was an author of botany in Geneva, Switzerland.  N.L. ciliatus, furnished with cilia. (Jaeger 57).  Referring to the fact that the sepals sometimes have cilia.  (my comment).  Dale indicates that ciliata means that the petals are fringed. (Dale 160)

General:  Occasional in the study area.   First found in 1985 on the Castaway's Bluffs but not found again until 1988 when it was found on the upper 23rd St. Bluffs.  In the spring of 1989 it was found westerly of the Delhi Ditch in an area that had burned the previous summer. (my comments)     To the Chumash Indians of the Santa Barbara area, Red maids (Calandrinia spp.) seeds were very important as offerings on religious occasions.  Large quantities of these small, black seeds have been found as burial accompaniments throughout Chumash Territory.  (Timbrook, J. "Chumash Ethnobotany: a Preliminary Report".  Journal of Ethnobiology, Dec. 84, 141-169).      The tender young plants were used as greens by the Luiseno Indians  of southern California. (Campbell 138).       The Miwok, Indians of central California, used the seeds of C. ciliata.  The entire plant was pulled up at the end of May and spread to dry on clean hard ground or a rock outcrop.  Seeds were separated by striking or shaking the plants.  The seeds were swept together with a soap root bush brush and winnowed on a flat tightly coiled basket.  The very rich oily meal was pressed into balls or cakes for eating. (Campbell 163).     About 75 species of W. Am. and Australia.  Munz, Flora So. Calif. 709.     Variety menziesii is not recognized in the Jepson Manual.  Variable vegetatively; uniform in fl., fr. and seed.  (Hickman, Ed. 896, 1349).

Text Ref: Hickman, Ed. 896, 1349; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 709; Roberts 34.

Photo Ref: Feb 1 85 # 15A,16A; Feb-April 91 # 13.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.

First Found:  February 1985.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 253.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 10/15/04.

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