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.
Astragalus agrestis is a species of milkvetch known by the common names purple milkvetch, purple loco, and field milkvetch. It is native to much of western and northern North America from most of Canada to the southwestern United States, as well as eastern Asia. It grows in vernally moist areas such as meadows, and is often found in sagebrush.
Blennosperma bakeri is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Baker's stickyseed and Sonoma sunshine.
Agrostis hendersonii is an uncommon species of grass known by the common name Henderson's bent grass. It is native to northern California and Oregon, where it is a rare member of the flora in scattered vernal pool habitats. It is an annual grass ranging in maximum height from 6 to 70 centimeters. It has short, narrow leaves only a few centimeters long. The inflorescence is a dense, narrow, cylindrical tuft no longer than 5 centimeters in length, made up of small spikelets with hairlike tips and bent awns.
Castilleja campestris is a species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name vernal pool Indian paintbrush. It is native to California and southern Oregon, where it grows in seasonally moist habitat, especially vernal pools.
Hordeum intercedens is an diploid, annual species of wild barley known by the common names bobtail barley and vernal barley. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it is an increasingly rare member of the flora in saline and alkaline soils near seasonal waterflows and vernal pool habitats. Today most occurrences are located on the Channel Islands of California; many of the occurrences known from the mainland have been extirpated in the process of land development. This is an annual grass growing erect to bent in small tufts with stems up to 40 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a green spike up to 6.5 centimeters long made up of awned spikelets between 1 and 2 centimeters long.
Lilaea is a monotypic genus of aquatic plants containing the single species Lilaea scilloides, which is known by the common names flowering quillwort, awl-leaf lilaea, and simply lilaea. The taxonomy of this plant has been in debate, with some authors assigning it to a family of its own named Lilaeaceae, and others keeping it in the small arrowgrass family, Juncaginaceae. It is native throughout the Americas and it can be found elsewhere as an introduced species, particularly in Australia. This is an annual herb growing in or just next to water in several types of shallow aquatic habitat, including vernal pools, mudflats, and ditches. The plant takes the form of a tuft of basal leaves around a very short stem. Each onionlike leaf is very narrow, long and pointed, reaching 25 to 40 centimeters long. It is wrapped in a translucent sheath at the base. The inflorescences include clusters of staminate and bisexual flowers at the tip of a narrow stalk as well as pistillate flowers in underwater axils. The pistillate flower is composed of a threadlike style which may be up to 20 centimeters long tipped with a stigma which floats on the water surface. The fruit is a beaked, ribbed nutlet up to a centimeter long.
Limnanthes bakeri is a rare species of meadowfoam known by the common name Baker's meadowfoam. It is endemic to Mendocino County, California, where it is known from only about 20 occurrences in the vicinity of Willits. It is a plant of wet, grassy habitat such as vernal pools and marshy spring meadows.
Microseris acuminata is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Sierra foothill silverpuffs. It is native to the Central Valley of California and the mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada, surrounding it. There is a disjunct occurrence in Jackson County, Oregon. The plant grows in grassy habitat, woodlands, and sometimes the edges of vernal pools.
Myosurus apetalus is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae known by the common name bristly mousetail. It is native to much of western North America, as well as Chile. It grows in moist and wet habitat, such as marshes, meadows, and vernal pools. It is an annual plant forming a small tuft up to about 12 centimeters tall. The leaves are linear and narrow, sometimes threadlike, and reach up to 6 centimeters in length. The inflorescence produces a single flower which has an elongated, cylindrical or cone-shaped receptacle up to 1.5 centimeters long. At the base of the receptacle are small greenish sepals and sometimes petals 1 or 2 millimeters long, although the petals are often absent.
Myosurus cupulatus is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae known by the common name Arizona mousetail. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in moist and dry habitat types in desert, scrub, and woodland. It is an annual plant forming a small tuft up to about 14 centimeters tall. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped and up to 7 centimeters in length. The inflorescence produces a single flower which has an elongated, cylindrical or cone-shaped receptacle up to 4 centimeters long. At the base of the receptacle are curving, spurred sepals and five petals each under 3 millimeters long.
Navarretia fossalis is a rare species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name spreading navarretia.
Navarretia subuligera is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names awl-leaf pincushionplant or awl-leaved navarretia. It is native to southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in open, wet habitat, such as meadows and vernal pools. It is a hairy, purple-colored annual herb growing up to about 16 centimeters tall. The leaves are divided into many linear lobes. The inflorescence is a cluster of many flowers surrounded by leaflike bracts with awl-shaped lobes. The flowers are white and under a centimeter in length.
Navarretia tagetina is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names marigold pincushionplant and marigold navarretia. It is native to the western United States from Washington to central California, where it grows in wet grassland habitat such as vernal pools. It is a somewhat hairy annual herb growing up to about 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are deeply divided into many spreading needlelike lobes. The inflorescence is a cluster of many flowers surrounded by leaflike bracts. The flowers are pale blue and about a centimeter long.
Orcuttia californica is a rare species of grass known by the common name California Orcutt grass.
Pogogyne nudiuscula is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Otay mesa mint. It is native to southern San Diego County, California, where it is known only from Otay Mesa near the border with Baja California. It was identified on land south of the Mexican border, but these occurrences have probably been extirpated. It is now known from seven vernal pool complexes just north of the border, and it is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Tripterocalyx crux-maltae is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names Lassen sandverbena and Kellogg's sand-verbena.
Tripterocalyx micranthus is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names smallflower sandverbena and small-flowered sand-verbena.
Triteleia hyacinthina is a species of flowering plant known by the common names white brodiaea, white tripletlily, hyacinth brodiaea, and fool's onion. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Idaho to central California. Its habitat includes grassland and vernally moist areas such as meadows and vernal pools. It is a perennial herb growing from a corm. It produces two or three basal leaves up to 40 centimeters (16 in) long by 2 centimeters (0.79 in) wide. The inflorescence arises on an erect stem up to 60 centimeters (24 in) tall and bears an umbel-like cluster of many flowers. Each flower is a funnel-shaped bloom borne on a pedicel up to 5 centimeters (2.0 in) long. The flower is white, often tinged purple along the tubular throat, with six green-veined tepals. There are six stamens with white, yellow, or occasionally blue anthers.
Lomatium cookii is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common names Cook's lomatium and agate desertparsley. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States, where it grows in only two valleys. It is a federally listed endangered species.
