Eriophyllum latilobum

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Eriophyllum latilobum
San Mateo woolly sunflower
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
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E. latilobum
Binomial name
Eriophyllum latilobum

Eriophyllum latilobum or San Mateo woolly sunflower [1] is a perennial herb of sharply limited range, endemic and occurring only in the state of California, United States. This flowering plant of the family Asteraceae has been listed as an endangered species by the U.S. federal government as well as the state of California. [2]

Contents

Description

Like the other 13 species members of its genus, Eriophyllum latilobum presents generally alternate leaves ranging from entire to nearly compound. The flower heads are grouped in radiate, flat-topped heads, with an hemispheric to nearly conic involucre. Phyllaries are either free, or more or less fused, their receptacle flat, but naked and conic in the center. The ray flowers (the "petals") have yellow ligules entire to lobed. Fruits are 4-angled cylindric achenes in the outer flowers, but are generally club-shaped for the inner flowers; the pappus is somewhat jagged. [3]

Eriophyllum latilobum occurs as a subshrub between 20 and 50 centimeters in height. Its thin leaves are two to six centimeters in length, and have a diamond to obovate shape; the deeply triangular-lobed leaves are smooth on the top surface. The inflorescence's peduncles are one to eight centimeters and the involucres measure four to seven millimeters. The acute, barely overlapping phyllaries number six to ten. The ray flowers number 6-13. The rays surround 40-70 disc flowers, each three to four millimeters in diameter. The strigose (hairy) fruit measures 3-4 millimeters (0.12-0.16 inches), and its pappus can vary between 0.3 and 1.0 millimeters (0.012-0.40 inches). Disc scales are larger than the ray scales. Chromosomes are characterized as: 2n=32. [4]

Distribution and habitat

Eriophyllum latilobum has been found in San Mateo County, San Benito County, and Napa County in habitats of oak woodland, but at altitudes only between 100 and 150 meters. Eriophyllum latilobum grows to 90 centimeters in height on erect woolly stems and produces bright yellow flowers. [5] Latilobum means "with wide lobe," from Latin latus , "wide".

Eriophyllum latilobum occurs primarily in shaded moist positions on steep grassy or sparsely wooded slopes of serpentine soil. The remaining colonies of San Mateo County consist of several hundred plants scattered along a two and one half mile length of Crystal Springs Road. These are most likely the relict fragments of a historically continuous population. [6] Calflora reports sightings in Mariposa County and Riverside County, but both sites are close to major highways and probably represent waifs. [1]

San Mateo woolly sunflower is associated with serpentine soils, which are found in discontinuous outcrops in the Coast Ranges of the San Francisco Bay Area (and other locations not involving E. latilobum). The chief constituent of the parent rock is a variant of iron-magnesium silicate. Many species associated with serpentine soils have status ranging from vulnerable to endangered. [7]

Conservation

The state of California listed E. latilobum as an endangered species in June 1992. [8] Eriophyllum latilobum was designated as endangered by the U.S. Government on February 3, 1995. It is currently designated as an endangered species within its entire range. [9] The species is threatened by urban development which continues to fragment its habitat. The San Mateo County colony is subject to damage by dumping of residential garden debris and downhill surface runoff of pesticides and fertilizers from homes above the steep-sloping habitat along Crystal Springs Road. Invasive plants add to the stress on the San Mateo woolly sunflower population. [10] Furthermore, the steep slopes are subject to mudslides and erosion, and road maintenance crews may not be aware of the existence of colonies and remove mudslides containing E. latilobum organisms and seeds. Crews may also regrade slopes, further destroying colonies.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Eriophyllum lanatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum lanatum, with the common names common woolly sunflower and Oregon sunshine, is a common, widespread, North American plant in the sunflower family.

<i>Eriophyllum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Eriophyllum, commonly known as the woolly sunflower, is a North American genus of plants in the sunflower family. The genus is native to western North America, with a concentration of narrow endemics in California.

<i>Acanthomintha duttonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Acanthomintha duttonii is a species of annual plant endemic to San Mateo County, California in the family Lamiaceae. It is commonly called San Mateo thornmint and is found growing on serpentine soils near the Crystal Springs Reservoir in a six-mile (10 km) long strip on the east side of Montara Mountain at elevations of approximately 150 to 300 meters.

Pentachaeta bellidiflora, the white-rayed pentachaeta or whiteray pygmydaisy, is a Californian wildflower in the genus Pentachaeta of the family Asteraceae. It is included in both the state and federal lists of endangered species.

<i>Cirsium fontinale</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium fontinale, the fountain thistle, is a flowering perennial herb in the sunflower family. It is endemic to California. The genus Cirsium is commonly known as the "thistle" genus, Cirsium being the Greek word for 'thistle.'

<i>Lasthenia conjugens</i>

Lasthenia conjugens, commonly known as Contra Costa goldfields, is an endangered species of wildflower endemic to a limited range within the San Francisco Bay Area of the state of California, USA. Specifically this rare species occurs in Napa, Santa Barbara, Solano, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Monterey and Alameda Counties. This annual herb typically flowers from March through June, and its colonies grow in vernal pool habitats at elevations not exceeding 100 meters above sea level. The Jepson Manual notes that the present distribution is limited to the deltaic Sacramento Valley, principally Napa and Solano Counties, but the historic range of L. conjugens is known to be significantly wider. In any case, historically the range has included parts of the North Coast, Sacramento Valley, and San Francisco Bay Area as well as the South Coast. Alternatively and less frequently this taxon has been referred to as Baeria fremontii var. conjugens.

<i>Streptanthus niger</i>

Streptanthus niger is an endangered species within the family Brassicaceae. Like other genus members, this herb has wavy petal margins with perimeter calluses that discourage larval herbivory. This plant is endemic to the Tiburon Peninsula of Northern California, and occurs at elevations below 150 m on serpentine grasslands. The common name for this species is Tiburon jewelflower or black jewelflower. This annual herb blooms in May and June and displays dark purple sepals. The etymology of this genus scientific name derives from the Greek word streptanthus, meaning twisted flower, with reference to the notable wavy margins of the petals. The species name niger relates to the color of the seeds being black, although an alternate account cites the dark color of the petals as the source of the appellation.

Eriophyllum multicaule is a North American flowering plant in the daisy family, known by the common name manystem woolly sunflower. It is native to California and Arizona in the southwestern United States.

<i>Helianthus bolanderi</i> Species of sunflower

Helianthus bolanderi is a species of sunflower known by the common names Bolander's sunflower and serpentine sunflower. It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows mainly in mountainous areas, often in serpentine soils. It has been found from southwestern Oregon as well as in northern and central California as far south as Santa Cruz County, with reports of a few isolated populations in southern California.

Helianthus exilis is a species of sunflower known by the common name serpentine sunflower. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows mainly in mountainous areas, often in serpentine soils.

<i>Eriophyllum mohavense</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum mohavense, also known as the Mojave woolly sunflower or the Barstow woolly sunflower, is a rare species of small annual flowering plant in the aster family, found only (endemic) in the Mojave Desert of California.

Eriophyllum ambiguum is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name beautiful woolly sunflower. It is native to the deserts and adjacent hills of southern and eastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southern Nevada.

Eriophyllum congdonii, known by the common name Congdon's woolly sunflower, is a rare California species of flowering plant in the aster family.

Eriophyllum jepsonii is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Jepson's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to California, where it has been found in the Central Coast Ranges and adjacent hills from Contra Costa County to Ventura County.

<i>Constancea</i> Genus of flowering plants

Constancea is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the aster family containing the single species Constancea nevinii, which is known by the common name Nevin's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to three of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in coastal scrub habitat. This is a small shrub or subshrub generally growing up to one or 1.5 meters tall, and taller when an erect form, with a branching, woolly stem. The whitish, woolly oval leaves may be up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into many narrow lobes with edges curled under. The inflorescence is a cluster of 10 to 50 or more small flower heads, each on a short peduncle. The flower head has a center of hairy, glandular, star-shaped yellow disc florets and a fringe of four to nine yellow ray florets, each about 2 millimeters long. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long with a small pappus at the tip.

Eriophyllum nubigenum, with the common name Yosemite woolly sunflower, is an uncommon flowering plant in the daisy family. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Sierra Nevada in and around Yosemite National Park.

Lessingia arachnoidea is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name 'Crystal Springs lessingia'. It is endemic to California, where it is known from a few occurrences in the vicinity of Crystal Springs Reservoir on the San Francisco Peninsula and southward to serpentine soil in Woodside. It may also exist in Sonoma County to the north. The plant grows in chaparral, scrub, and other local plant communities, often on serpentine soils.

<i>Lessingia germanorum</i>

Lessingia germanorum is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name San Francisco lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from four populations in the Presidio of San Francisco and one occurrence on San Bruno Mountain south of San Francisco. It is a state and federally listed endangered species. The already rare plant is endangered by many processes, including invasive species, development, sand mining, off-road vehicles and bulldozers, habitat fragmentation, trampling, and pollution, as well as stochastic events.

Monolopia major is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name cupped monolopia.

Pseudobahia bahiifolia is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Hartweg's golden sunburst.

References

  1. 1 2 Callflora taxon report, University of California, Eriophyllum latilobum Rydb. San Mateo woolly sunflower
  2. United States Fish & Wildlife Service. 2005. Threatened and Endangered Animals and Plants, Species Information.
  3. Mooring, Madroño 38:213–226, (1991)
  4. Jepson Manual, University of California Press (1993)
  5. Eriophyllum latilobum Rydberg in N. L. Britton et al., North American Flora 34: 94. 1914.
  6. Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Service, Recovery Plan for Serpentine Soil Species of the San Francisco Bay Area, September 30, 1998
  7. Federal Register listing detail for Eriophyllum latilobum
  8. Calflora statement of state of California listing detail
  9. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listing detail
  10. C.M.Hogan, J.Torrey et al., Environmental Impact Report for the Hillsborough Highlands Estates, Earth Metrics Inc. Report 7803, California State Clearinghouse, November, 1989