Calflora - Species Field Descriptions

Calflora Logo Calflora Species Table Field Descriptions


The field names below are not necessarily shown in the order that they appear in downloaded data files. Note that the data contained in Calflora is dynamic, and the database tables may also change structure occasionally to adapt to new needs or processes. This document was last updated on 11/10/2022.



CALFLORA RECORD NUMBER [calrecnum]
Example: 7245
Max size: 5

This is the unique ID integer for a Calflora record of a particular taxon.

Once a calrecnum is assigned to a taxon, it will never be re-assigned to a different taxon. If the scientific name of a plant changes, however, the record for the old name may be classified inactive.


CALFLORA TAXON NAME [calname]
Example: Abronia villosa S. Watson var. aurita (Abrams) Jepson
Max size: 255 (logistically longest: 138 for Pentagramma triangularis ssp. semipallida)

Full name of taxon, concatenated from the separate name component fields:
"genus species author1 rank ssp_var author2"
Usage and spelling generally follows the Jepson eFlora. Differs from field taxon in that it includes author citation.


TAXON [taxon]
Example: Abronia maritima
Max size: 128
Name of taxon, without authors. Useful for matching data between data sets.
concatenated from the separate name component fields:
= "genus species rank ssp_var"
Note: A taxon record does not always correspond to unique plant species or end-points of diversity.
i.e. Calflora contains separate records for Pentagramma triangularis, Pentagramma triangularis ssp.triangularis, and Pentagramma triangularis ssp. semipallida. If one were tracking biodiversity for an area, it would be a mistake to count both a parent taxon record (Pentagramma triangularis) and a child taxon record (Pentagramma triangularis ssp. semipallida) as two separate units of biodiversity. See additional discussion under the field description for parent_child.


GENUS [genus]
Example: Abronia
Max size: 17
Genus name of taxon.

SPECIES [species]
Example: villosa
Max size: 21
Specific epithet of taxon. Note the uses of the word 'species' to refer to specific epithet is incorrect. Species refers to unique combinations of genus plus specific epithet.

AUTHOR 1 [author1]
Example: S. Watson
Max size: 46
Species author of taxon, including parenthetical authorship.

RANK [rank]
Example: var.
Max size: 4
Infraspecific rank of taxon - "var." or "ssp."

SSP_VAR [ssp_var]
Example: aurita
Max size: 19
Infraspecific epithet for taxon.

AUTHOR 2 [author2]
Example: (Abrams) Jepson
Max size: 49
Infraspecific author of taxon, including parenthetical authorship.

FAMILY [family]
Example: ASTERACEAE
Max size: 16
Family assignments follow the Jepson eFlora.

CATEGORY [category]
Example: angiosperm

Please see Categories for a full explanation.
This field is designed to facilitate sorting of records in a phylogenetic order.


PARENT/CHILD TAG [parent_child]
Example: child
Max size: 10

This field tags the record as child or parent. A child is a fully recognized taxon that is included in another taxon within this database. A parent is the taxon within which the child is included. For example,
Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia is a child, and
Poa secunda is the parent of that child.
In a case like this, the information available in this database for the child will be more articulated than information available for the parent. On the other hand, information for the parent will in some ways be an aggregate of information for all of the children (subspecies and varieties). For instance, observation data reported for Poa secunda will include all observation data for Poa secunda ssp. juncifolia and Poa secunda ssp. secunda.

This tag is intended to facilitate species counts--including both a child and its parent results in an over-count of taxa.


PARENT RECORDNUM [parent_rec]
Example: 345
Max size: 4

For children this is the calrecnum of the parent.

PARENT NAME [parent_name]
Example: Trifolium andersonii
Max size: 42

For children, this is the name (genus + species + rank + ssp_var) of the parent.

TREATMENT NOTE [treatment]
Any special note about the taxonomic treatment of the plant.

NATIVE [native]
Example: t
Max Size: 1

Each taxon is classed as t (true) for Native, or f (false) for Non-Native (Introduced).


LIFEFORM [lifeform]
Example: Perennial
Max size: 22
Each taxon is classed as one or more of the following:

Fern
Annual herb
Perennial herb
Biennial herb
Tree
Shrub
Vine
followed by adjectives in parentheses--e.g. Shrub (stem succulent)

aquatic
biennial
bulb
carnivorous
hemiparasitic
mosslike
rhizomatous
parasitic
mycoparasitic (previously "saprophitic")
stem succulent

Transcribed from Lum/Walker codes except that occurrences of 'not specified' were replaced with an interpretation of description in Munz or the Jepson Manual. For taxa included in the CNPS Inventory (1994), this field contains the lifeform descriptor used in that database (some infrequently-used adjectives have been dropped). For taxa not included in either Lum/Walker or the CNPS Inventory, this field contains transcriptions of data from the USDA PLANTS database. All Pteridophytes are classified as lifeform 'Fern'. All Ericaceae (Monotropoideae) previously marked 'saprophytic' reclassified as 'mycoparasitic' per communication with Garry Wallace (Wallace 1975).


US DISTRIBUTION [us_dist]
Example: CA Endemic
Max size: 20
Describes distribution beyond California.
    CA Endemic
    CA+ extends only slightly beyond CA borders
    wNAm beyond CA but confined to w. North America
    NAm/WW native here but range extends beyond N.Am.
    Introd. introduced
For non-endemic taxa included in CNPS Inventory, this field contains the non-California portion of the distribution entry from that database: standard 2-letter codes for U.S. states, also
    BA Baja California
    GU Isla Guadalupe, BA
    SA South America
    SO Sonora, Mexico

COUNTY LIST (County Distributions) [countylist]
Example: ALP ELD HUM

List of County regions where this species is, was, or may be present, based on data included in the Calflora Occurrence Database.

    ALA Alameda
    ALP Alpine
    AMA Amador
    BUT Butte
    CAL Calaveras
    CCA Contra Costa
    COL Colusa
    DNT Del Norte
    ELD El Dorado
    FRE Fresno
    GLE Glenn
    HUM Humboldt
    IMP Imperial
    INY Inyo
    KNG Kings
    KRN Kern
    LAK Lake
    LAS Lassen
    LAX Los Angeles
    MAD Madera
    MEN Mendocino
    MER Merced
    MNO Mono
    MNT Monterey
    MOD Modoc
    MPA Mariposa
    MRN Marin
    NAP Napa
    NEV Nevada
    ORA Orange
    PLA Placer
    PLU Plumas
    RIV Riverside
    SAC Sacramento
    SBA Santa Barbara
    SBD San Bernardino
    SBT San Benito
    SCL Santa Clara
    SCR Santa Cruz
    SDG San Diego
    SFO San Francisco
    SMT San Mateo
    SHA Shasta
    SIE Sierra
    SIS Siskiyou
    SJQ San Joaquin
    SLO San Luis Obispo
    SOL Solano
    SON Sonoma
    STA Stanislaus
    SUT Sutter
    TEH Tehama
    TRI Trinity
    TUL Tulare
    TUO Tuolumne
    VEN Ventura
    YOL Yolo
    YUB Yuba

PLANT COMMUNITIES [plant_community]
Example: m16m17m15
Max size: 42
A plant community system introduced in Philip A. Munz 1968, Supplement to a California flora. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, CA. 224 pp. The system is utilized in Griffin and Critchfield 1972, The Distribution of Forest Trees in California, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Berkeley, CA. 64 pp.

List of two-digit codes each preceded by a 'm', no spaces (e.g. 'm13m27m29') Codes m01-m29 correspond to numbers used in Munz68 plant communities list (see Munz68 pp12-18 for descriptions)



    m01 Coastal Strand
    m02 Coastal Salt Marsh
    m03 Freshwater Marsh (note: expanded to include all freshwater wetlands)
    m04 Northern Coastal Scrub
    m05 Coastal Sage Scrub
    m06 Sagebrush Scrub
    m07 Shadscale Scrub
    m08 Creosote Bush Scrub
    m09 Alkali Sink
    m10 North Coastal Coniferous Forest
    m11 Closed-cone Pine Forest
    m12 Redwood Forest
    m13 Douglas-Fir Forest
    m14 Yellow Pine Forest
    m15 Red Fir Forest
    m16 Lodgepole Forest
    m17 Subalpine Forest
    m18 Bristle-cone Pine Forest
    m19 Mixed Evergreen Forest
    m20 Northern Oak Woodland
    m21 Southern Oak Woodland
    m22 Foothill Woodland
    m23 Chaparral
    m24 Coastal Prairie
    m25 Valley Grassland
    m26 Alpine Fell-fields
    m27 Northern Juniper Woodland
    m28 Pinyon-Juniper Woodland
    m29 Joshua Tree Woodland
Other codes from Lum/Walker:
    m30 weed, species characteristic of disturbed places,
    m31 agricultural weed,
    m40 escaped cultivar,
    m41 introduced plant which is becoming naturalized,
    m42 agricultural plant,
    m50 many plant communities,
    m80 community not given, species associated with a peculiar habitat.
Additional Codes
    m45 wetland-riparian

CNPS RARITY CODE [rarity]
Example: 2B
Values of 'Rarity' code from CNPS Inventory database (CNPS 2019).

CALIFORNIA STATE LISTING STATUS [ca_status]
Max size: 64 char.
State listing codes from
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Updated January, 2021.
SE State-listed endangered
ST State-listed threatened
SR State-listed rare
SC State candidate for listing

FEDERAL LISTING STATUS [fed_status]
Max size: 64 char.
Federal listing codes from
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Updated January, 2021.
FE Federally listed endangered
FT Federally listed threatened
FPE Federally proposed endangered
FPT Federally proposed,threatened
FDR Federally delisted - recovered

HABITATS [habitat_descriptors]
Example: riparian
Max size: 57
Captures habitat descriptors from Lum/Walker and CNPS Inventory (1994) databases, includes the following keywords:
    alluvial-fans
    bogs/fens
    brackish-marsh
    canyons
    cliffs
    coastal
    disturbed
    dunes
    edges
    freshwater-marsh
    lake-margin
    lakes
    marsh
    meadows
    openings
    ridges
    riparian
    salt-marsh
    seeps
    slopes
    streambanks
    washes
Data is not available for all taxa.

CDFA WEED STATUS [cdfa_weed_status]
Example: A
Max size: 16
Weed status rating codes from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Plant Health and Pest Prevention Services.

Last updated in Calflora: October 2000 with classifications as of September 2000 (CDFA Weeds 2000).

Possible values:

A "An organism of know economic importance subject to state (or commissioner when acting as a state agent) enforced action involving: eradication, quarantine, containment, rejection, or other holding action."
B "An organism of known economic importance subject to: eradication, containment, control or other holding action at the discretion of the individual county agricultural commissioner." OR "An organism of know economic importance subject to state endorsed holding action and eradication only when found in a nursery."
C "An organism subject to no state enforced action outside of nurseries except to retard spread. At the discretion of the commissioner." OR "An organism subject to no state enforced action except to provide for pest cleanliness in nurseries."
D "No action. (Parasites, predators, and organisms of little or no economic importance)."
Q "An organism or disorder requiring temporary "A" action pending determination of a permanent rating. The organism is suspected to be of economic importance but its status is uncertain because of incomplete identification or inadequate information. In the case of an established infestation, at the discretion of the Assistant Director for Plant Industry, the Department will conduct surveys and will convene the Division Pest Study Team to determine a permanent rating."

FEDERAL NOXIOUS WEED STATUS [fed_nox_weed]
Max size: 34
Weed status rating codes from the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Last updated in Calflora: October 26, 2000 with ratings as of September 8, 2000 (USDA 2000)

Values:

    not listed
    y

PLANTS CODE [plants_code]
Example: ABCO
Max size: 7
Code from USDA PLANTS for this name.

WETLAND INDICATOR [wetland]
Example: OBL (obligate)
Max size: 4
The likelihood of a species occurring in wetlands versus non wetlands in California as determined by the Army Corps of Engineers in the National Wetland Plant List (updated 2016). The dataset was developed by Robert W. Lichvar, Norman C. Melvin, Mary L. Butterwick, and William N. Kirchner. Please see this description and documentation of the dataset.

Note that indicator categories do not refer to degrees of wetness. Some obligate wetland species occur in wetlands which are only temporarily or seasonally flooded.

Indicator categories:

    OBL Obligate Wetland Occurs almost always under natural conditions in wetlands.
    FACW Facultative Wetland Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally found in non wetlands.
    FAC Facultative Equally likely to occur in wetlands and non wetlands.
    FACU Facultative Upland Usually occurs in non wetlands, but occasionally found on wetlands.
    UPL Obligate Upland Occurs almost always under natural conditions in non wetlands in the region. (Note that if a species does not occur in wetlands in any region, it is not on the National List.)
In the 2012 version of the National Wetland Plant List, California has two regions:
  • the Arid West, including most of the state; and

  • Western Mountains, Valleys and Coast, including the Sierras and the northwest part of the state (MLRAs 22A, 22B, 05, and 04B -- map coming).
When a plant has a different value in each California region, both values are included. Otherwise, a single value is included.

CALIFORNIA INVASIVE PLANT COUNCIL PLANT STATUS and URL [calipc]
Example: 2:Torilis_arvensis.php
Weed status code and URL from the California Invasive Plant Council, updated August, 2017.
In the example above, 2 is the status code. The meaning of the codes is as follows:
Code Meaning Example
1 High Aegilops triuncialis
2 Moderate Torilis arvensis
3 Limited Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum
4 Watch Alopecurus pratensis

OCCURRENCE DATABASE TOTAL COUNT [occ_count]
Example: 1236
The total count of records in the Calflora Occurrence Database that are unambiguously assignable to this taxon (including synonyms and included sub-taxa).

ITIS TAXONOMIC SERIAL NUMBER (TSN) [itis_tsn]
Example: 34123
The ITIS Taxonomic Serial Number for this taxon.

ONE COMMON NAME [common]
Example: moutain dandelion
A single common name for the plant.

ACTIVE [active]
Example: f
Is this record active? When there is a name change, and several nomenclature authorities agree on the new name, then Calflora will create a new record for the new name, and set active = 'f' on the old record.

INDEX DATE [index_date]
The date this record was added to the table.

NSTATUS [nstatus]
Any special status, such as rare (for natives) or invasive (for natives or non-natives).
    1 native, rare
    2 native, not rare
    3 native, invasive
    4 non-native
    5 non-native, invasive

ULTRAMAFIC AFFINITY [um_affinity]
Example: 2.6 (strong indicator)
The mean ultramafic affinity for this taxon, as per Safford and Miller 2020.

The numbers, on a scale from 1.0 to 6.0, are interpreted as follows:

≥ 5.5 strict endemic 170 taxa with 95% of their occurrences on ultramafics
< 5.5 ≥ 4.5 broad endemic 85 taxa with 85-94% of their occurrences on ultramafics
< 4.5 ≥ 3.5 transition from broad endemic to
strong indicator 75 taxa with 75-84% of their occurrences on ultramafics
< 3.5 ≥ 2.5 strong indicator 121 taxa with 65-74% of their occurrences on ultramafics
< 2.5 ≥ 1.5 weak indicator 149 taxa with 55-64% of their occurrences on ultramafics
< 1.5 ≥ 1.0 weak indicator / indifferent 79 taxa with 50-54% of their occurrences on ultramafics
See also
    Serpentine Soils and Plant Adaptations U. S. Forest Service:
      Some plant species are seldom if ever found on serpentines, others are indifferent meaning they can occur both on, or off, serpentines, yet others are almost entirely restricted to serpentines.

    SERPENTINE SOILS AND WHY THEY LIMIT PLANT SURVIVAL AND GROWTH
    Earl B. Alexander, in Fremontia v. 38:4/39:1 (October 2010):
      Plants that thrive on serpentine soils have unusual capabilities to utilize calcium when the alkaline earth elements are dominated by magnesium, and to tolerate concentrations of cobalt and nickel that are toxic to most plants.

PREVIOUS TAXON [akatax]
An alternate scientific name of the plant that was in use before the current value of TAXON was accepted. This field is populated only for plant names that were changed in the Jepson Manual Second Edition (2012) or subsequently, and only when the name change is unambiguous.

For example, the record for the currently accepted taxon Frangula californica contains the previously accepted taxon Rhamnus californica as the value of this field.


PREVIOUS RECORDNUM [xcrn]
If the record has a value for PREVIOUS TAXON, this is the record number (calrecnum) that corresponds to that name.

START BLOOM and END BLOOM [sbloom] [ebloom]
Example: 5 (May)
An integer from 1 to 12 indicating the month when the plant is likely to start blooming in California (start bloom), and the last month when the plant might still be blooming in California (end bloom). Together these two numbers suggest the bloom period of the plant.

Data for bloom period comes from the CNPS Inventory, USDA PLANTS, various documents prepared by NRCS California, CalPhotos, and the Jepson eFlora. For weeds, Joe DiTomaso's Weeds of California was also consulted. Calflora observation records (where the contributor has indicated that the plant was flowering) are also consulted periodically as this data is maintained.

Of these sources, CalPhotos is the most interesting, because when a blooming plant is well covered by multiple photographers on CalPhotos, it is possible to induce the bloom period by looking at the dates of many photos. In this way, CalPhotos can often serve as a reality check for data from other sources.

Caveats. There are some caveats about the use of this bloom period data. First, the bloom period as stated tends to bracket the actual bloom period for a plant at a particular location during a particular year. The data is for the whole state, and some plants with a wide geographic range exhibit significant differences in bloom period location-by-location and year-by-year. Second, the bloom period for some California native plants is not yet well documented, so that what Calflora shows may be taken as a first hypothesis. You can help us to correct any errors. If you see a bloom period for a plant on Calflora that is too short, here is what to do:

  • Register as a contributor
  • Take a photo of the plant in bloom during the missing month (for instance, if the bloom period is stated as March - May, and you know it blooms in June, wait until June, and then take a photo of it).
  • Enter an observation with Plant Observation Entry and add your photo (or a link to your photo) to the record. Be sure to set the value of Phenology to Flowering.
You can also just write to us to suggest a correction.


In the Jepson Manual Second Edition, 45 plants (listed below) are shown as having both a spring and a fall bloom period each year. Calflora only shows the first bloom period for these plants.

    Adenophyllum cooperi Apr--Jun, Sep--Nov
    Adenophyllum porophylloides Mar--Jun, Oct--Dec
    Ageratina herbacea May--Jun, Oct--Nov
    Bahiopsis parishii Feb--Jun, Sep--Oct
    Bahiopsis reticulata Feb--Jun, Sep--Oct
    Baileya multiradiata Apr--Jul, Oct
    Baileya pauciradiata Dec--Jun, Oct
    Baileya pleniradiata Mar--Jun, Oct--Nov
    Brickellia frutescens Mar--Jun, Oct--Nov
    Dieteria asteroides var. asteroides Mar--Jun, Sep--Oct
    Encelia farinosa Jan--Jun, Aug--Sep
    Encelia farinosa Jan--Jun, Aug--Sep
    Encelia virginensis Mar--Jun, Dec
    Ericameria pinifolia Apr--Jul, Sep--Jan
    Geraea canescens Jan--May, Sep--Nov
    Helianthus niveus subsp. tephrodes Mar--May, Oct--Jan
    Heterotheca villosa var. scabra Apr--May, Oct--Nov
    Hymenopappus filifolius var. eriopodus May--Jun, Oct
    Perityle emoryi Jan--Jun, Oct--Nov
    Psilostrophe cooperi Mar--Jul, Oct--Jan
    Senecio flaccidus var. monoensis Apr--Jun, Sep--Nov
    Thymophylla pentachaeta var. belenidium (Mar)Apr--Jun, Sep--Oct
    Trichoptilium incisum Jan--May, Oct--Dec
    Trixis californica var. californica Jan--May, Jul--Aug
    Xanthisma spinulosum var. gooddingii Feb--May, Sep--Oct
    Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia Mar--Jun, Oct
    Pholisma arenarium Apr--Jul, Oct
    Bernardia incana Apr--May, Oct--Nov
    Chamaesyce micromera Apr--Jun, Sep--Dec
    Calliandra eriophylla Feb--Apr, after Sep--Oct rain
    Petalonyx thurberi subsp. gilmanii May--Jun, Sep--Nov
    Horsfordia newberryi Mar--Apr, Nov--Dec
    Malacothamnus densiflorus May--Jul, Sep--Oct
    Malacothamnus orbiculatus May--Jul, Oct--Nov
    Oxalis bowiei Apr--Jun, Oct--Dec
    Ranunculus sceleratus var. sceleratus Apr--Jun, Oct
    Galium wrightii May--Jun, Aug--Sep
    Fagonia laevis Mar--May, Nov--Jan
    Fagonia pachyacantha Mar--May, Nov--Jan
    Tridens muticus var. muticus Apr--May, Oct--Nov

TOXICITY [toxic]
An indication of the known toxicity of a plant. See the California Poison Control System for more detailed information. Possible values include:

Field List:
calrecnum
calname
taxon
genus
species
author1
rank
ssp_var
author2
family
parent_child
parent_rec
parent_name
treatment
category
lifeform
native
us_dist
plant_community
habitat_descriptors
countylist
rarity
ca_status
fed_status
cdfa_weed_status
fed_nox_weed
wetland
plants_code
calipc
itis_tsn
common
um_affinity
akatax
xcrn
sbloom
ebloom
active
index_date
nstatus
toxic

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