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Purple Amole
Chlorogalum purpureum
  
0 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Purple Amole (Chlorogalum purpureum) 0 Nurseries Carry This Plant Chlorogalum purpureum is a species of flowering plant related to the agaves known by the common name purple amole. This species of soap plant is endemic to California where it grows in the mountain ranges of the Central Coast. There are two varieties of this plant, and both are believed to be quite rare. It is a federally listed threatened species. This is a perennial plant growing from a bulb about 3 centimeters in diameter. The narrow, wavy leaves grow at the base of the stem. The leaves are bright green and have thick midribs. There are usually one to eight leaves, but plants with up to fourteen have been noted. The stem bears flowers at widely spaced nodes. Each flower has curled tepals each less than a centimeter long in shades of blue or purple; all other Chlorogalum species have white or pink flowers. The flowers have long stamens with yellow anthers around a protruding style. The two varieties of the species can be told apart by their sizes; var. purpureum (the variety usually called purple amole) grows up to 40 centimeters tall and var. reductum (Camatta Canyon amole) reaches only 20 centimeters. About 90% of the plants are of var. purpureum. Ecology and distribution. This is a plant of the Mediterranean climate with hot, rainless summers and wet winters. Purple amole, var. purpureum, is endemic to the Santa Lucia Range of Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties. It is known from only two locations, the Army installation Fort Hunter Liggett and the National Guard post Camp Roberts. There are a total of four populations, probably totalling under 10,000 total individuals. The habitat is grassland with patches of oak woodland.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Perennial herb

Size
Size
1.3 ft tall

Flower Color
Flower Color
Blue, Purple, White

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 likely * ) SHOW ALL
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Callophrys augustinus Image
The Brown Elfin Callophrys augustinusCallophrys augustinus

Landscaping Information
Natural Setting
Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 12.3" - 28.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.18" - 0.47", Coldest Month: 41.2" - 49.2", Hottest Month: 62.6" - 78.3", Humidity: 0.97" - 26.11", Elevation: 36" - 2003"


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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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