About Emmenanthe penduliflora Benth.
Emmenanthe penduliflora Benth. has fleshy foliage that oozes sticky juice with a faint medicinal odor. It grows from a weedy-looking basal rosette of sharply lobed leaves. Its inflorescence is a terminal cluster of flowers, carried on slender pedicels less than 1 inch long. Each bloom has five sepals and five yellow or pinkish, bell-shaped petals. When flowers dry, they become light and papery. Dry hanging flowers make a rustling sound in the breeze, which gives this plant its common name of whispering bells. The dry flower holds a fruit roughly 1 centimeter wide. This species is most common in dry, recently burned areas; seed germination may be triggered by the presence of burned plant material. It is a common plant of the fire-prone chaparral ecosystem. In Mexico, it occurs in the two states of the Baja California Peninsula. In Baja California, it is common in the northwestern part of the state and ranges into the Central Desert. In Baja California Sur, it grows on the Vizcaino Peninsula. It also grows on Guadalupe Island in the Pacific Ocean.
