Hesperolinon congestum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malpighiales |
Family: | Linaceae |
Genus: | Hesperolinon |
Species: | H. congestum |
Binomial name | |
Hesperolinon congestum (A. Gray) Small | |
Hesperolinon congestum, or Marin dwarf flax, is an annual herb, which is known to occur only in San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin County, California, [1] United States. This plant occurs chiefly on serpentine soils, especially in dry native bunch grasses, chaparral or other grasslands at elevations less than 200 meters. The flowers are congested at the tips of the dichotomously branching stems. H. congestum is in flower between April and July. The outlook for this plant depends on survival of only about twenty small colonies, most of which are not actively managed for protection, even though the species is federally and state-listed as threatened. This species is also less commonly known as Marin western flax.
Stems of this wildflower vary between five and fifteen centimeters in length, with linear leaves manifesting alternately. [2] The leaves are typically not planar and not clasping, and stipule glands are well developed with red exudate. Inflorescences are dense, with cymes characteristically open and 0.5 to 8.0 millimeter pedicels somewhat thread-like and ascending. The flower has five hairy sepals, which are three to four millimeters in size, whose margins are minutely glandular. Five petals are widely spreading between three and eight millimeters in dimension. These pink to rose colored petals each manifest three minute scales at the inner base; stamen dimensions vary between 5.5 and 7.0 millimeters. There are five stamens, and anthers are pink to deep purple. There exist six ovary chambers; the number of whitish styles is three. Fruits have a smooth surface exterior. Chromosomal characterization is: n=18.
Henry Nicholas Bolander was the first to collect and characterize Marin Dwarf Flax in the year 1863 in Marin County, during a project conducted by the California Geological Survey. Originally the new species was called Linum congestum by Asa Gray, although he described it in the section Hesperolinon within the same publication in the year 1865. It was J.K. Small who conveyed the discrete genus Hesperolinon to this plant in 1907.
By 1925 Jepson designated the genus Hesperolinon as a sector of the genus Linum and described Hesperolinon congestum as a subspecies of L. californicum. In 1961 Helen K. Sharsmith produced a definitive study of Hesperolinon, with the result that this taxon clearly merited genus standing; moreover, she also returned Marin Dwarf Flax, H. congestum to species status.
Collection and recognition of the species was made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by botanical pioneers W.L. Jepson, Alice Eastwood and Katharine Brandegee. Most of these early sightings were made in Tiburon and San Francisco. In the mid 1900s recording arose in San Mateo County, principally in Redwood City (Edgewood Park) [3] and in San Mateo
The State of California classified Marin Dwarf Flax as a threatened species in the year 1992, and the federal government listed this plant as threatened in 1995. In addition to the state of California and U.S. federal government protected designations, the California Native Plant Society has classified Marin Dwarf Flax: List 1B, R-E-D Code 3-3-3ru. In 2006 the Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced a program that has the potential for further reducing the habitat and population of H. congestum and a number of other listed species.
In these activities Pacific Gas and Electric announced it would destroy or modify over 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) of habitat in California, some of which is known habitat for H. congestum. [4] It is indicated that a full Environmental Impact Report would be prepared for public review prior to any of the proposed actions. The most destructive element of this proposed program is the use of herbicide to effect a kill of virtually all vegetation in large areas of power line rights-of-way.
Ring Mountain in Marin County, California is a location of occurrence of H. congestum; [5] in fact the sole population that is actively managed is found on Ring Mountain, a nature reserve on the Tiburon Peninsula managed by The Nature Conservancy.
Many of the existing colonies are in San Mateo County; two of these in the vicinity of the Crystal Springs Reservoir are in danger of destruction by an expanded trail system proposed by the county. The proposed Jefferson-Martin 230 kV transmission line, running from San Francisco to north San Mateo County, would traverse and impact known habitat of Marin Dwarf Flax. [6]
In 2014, a previous unknown population on serpentine habitat within the Town of Woodside was discovered by Pacific Gas and Electric when a gas pipeline was being replaced between Farm Hill Blvd. and Woodside Road, east of I-280, and the project is destroying about 10% of the population, however, a restoration plan was written during construction of the pipeline, to try to mitigate the damages. [7]
Prior to the discovery of the new population in Woodside, the California Natural Diversity Database listed a total of 27 populations—12 in Marin County, three in San Francisco (however, one of those populations is known to be extinct and at a second site, only a single plant seen in 1985) and 12 populations in San Mateo County. [8]
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
San Mateo County, officially the County of San Mateo, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City is the county seat, the third-most populated city in the county after Daly City and San Mateo.
Tiburon is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It is located on the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. It shares a ZIP code (94920) with the smaller incorporated city of Belvedere, which occupies the southwest part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon. Tiburon is bordered by Corte Madera to the north and Mill Valley to the west, but is otherwise mostly surrounded by the bay. Besides Belvedere and Tiburon, much of the peninsula is unincorporated, including portions of the north side and the communities of Strawberry and Paradise Cay.
Woodside is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It has a council–manager system of government.
Baker Beach is a public beach on the peninsula of San Francisco, California, U.S. The beach lies on the shore of the Pacific Ocean in the northwest of the city. It is roughly a 0.5 mi (800 m) long, beginning just south of Golden Gate Point, extending southward toward the Seacliff peninsula, the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Sutro Baths. The northern section of Baker Beach is "frequented by clothing-optional sunbathers," and as such it is considered a nude beach.
Richardson Bay is a shallow, ecologically rich arm of San Francisco Bay, managed under a Joint Powers Agency of four northern California cities. The 911-acre (369 ha) Richardson Bay Sanctuary was acquired in the early 1960s by the National Audubon Society. The bay was named for William A. Richardson, early 19th century sea captain and builder in San Francisco. It contains both Strawberry Spit and Aramburu Island.
Calochortus tiburonensis, the Tiburon Mariposa lily, is a rare member of the genus Calochortus in the family Liliaceae. It is endemic to Marin County, California, where it is known only from one population on Ring Mountain east of Mill Valley. There it occurs on a single serpentine outcrop in grasslands from 50–150 metres (160–490 ft) in elevation.
Potentilla hickmanii is an endangered perennial herb of the rose family. This rare plant species is found in a narrowly restricted range in two locations in coastal northern California, in Monterey County, and in very small colonies in San Mateo County. This small wildflower, endemic to western slopes of the outer coastal range along the Pacific Ocean coast, produces bright yellow blossoms through spring and summer.
Crystal Springs Reservoir is a pair of artificial lakes located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, California, situated in the rift valley created by the San Andreas Fault just to the west of the cities of San Mateo and Hillsborough, and I-280. The lakes are part of the San Mateo Creek watershed. Crystal Springs Regional Trail runs along the reservoir.
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.
Cirsium fontinale, the fountain thistle, is a flowering perennial herb in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to California. The genus Cirsium is commonly known as the "thistle" genus, Cirsium being the Greek word for 'thistle.'
Eriophyllum latilobum, the San Mateo woolly sunflower, 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.
Hesperolinon is a genus in the family Linaceae, whose common genus names are dwarf-flax or western flax, in reference to their distribution along the west coast of North America. There are 13 known species within this genus of wildflowers, most of which are limited to serpentine soil habitats within California, United States. These annual plants are thought to be mostly self-pollinating.
Hesperolinon micranthum is a species of flowering plant in the flax family known by the common name smallflower dwarf flax. It is native to the west coast of North America from Oregon to Baja California. It may occur in Nevada. It grows in a number of open habitats, often on serpentine soils. This is a spindly annual herb producing a very thin stem 5 to 20 centimeters in height. Its small, sparse leaves are linear in shape. The tiny flowers have five white or pink-veined white petals each less than four millimeters long and protruding stamens with white or purple anthers.
Hesperolinon serpentinum is a rare species of flowering plant in the flax family known by the common name Napa dwarf flax, or Napa western flax. Hesperolinon serpentinum was not validly published by McCarten although it appears in the Jepson Manual. The species was validly published as Hesperolinon sharsmithae in 2006 by O'Donnell. The species is endemic to northern California, where it is known from fewer than twenty occurrences in four counties surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a member of chaparral plant communities, generally on serpentine soils. It produces a thin, erect stem up to 30 centimeters tall, with sparse flat, narrow leaves. The inflorescence holds several light yellow flowers with petals only 2 or 3 millimeters long. The plant is threatened mainly by development of its habitat.
Hesperolinon tehamense is a rare species of flowering plant in the flax family known by the common names Tehama County western flax and Paskenta Grade dwarf flax. It is endemic to northern California, where it is known from only about ten occurrences, mostly within Tehama and Glenn Counties. Most of its habitat is on Bureau of Land Management lands and within the Mendocino National Forest, in chaparral ecosystems with serpentine soils. The plant produces thin, hairy stems up to 50 centimeters in maximum height with small, sparse linear leaves. The inflorescence bears several small flowers with pale to bright yellow notched petals just a few millimeters long.
Hesperolinon disjunctum is a species of flowering plant in the flax family known by the common name Coast Range dwarf flax. It is endemic to California, where it has a disjunct distribution along the North and Central Coast Ranges.
The Bay checkerspot is a butterfly endemic to the San Francisco Bay region of the U.S. state of California. It is a federally threatened species, as a subspecies of Euphydryas editha.