''Artemisia nesiotica'' is a rare
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
species of
sagebrush
Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west.
Following is an alph ...
in the
daisy family, known by the common name island sagebrush. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
Channel Islands of California
The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and ...
, found on 3 of the 8 islands (
San Nicolas,
San Clemente
San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway between ...
, and
Santa Barbara Island
Santa Barbara Island (Spanish: ''Isla de Santa Bárbara''; Tongva: ''Tchunashngna'') is a small island of the Channel Islands archipelago in Southern California. It is protected within Channel Islands National Park, and its marine ecosystem ...
s).
Description
''Artemisia nesiotica'' is a small
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
growing up to about 50 cm (20 inches) tall and generally rounded in shape. It produces several thin, upright stems from a woody base. The foliage is made up of woolly leaves divided into many thin, flat, threadlike segments. The
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...
is a narrow cluster of several
flower heads. The fruit is a tiny resinous
achene
An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...
with a
pappus of hairs.
Etymology
The earliest name given to the plaint was ''Crossostephium insulare'', coined by
Per Axel Rydberg
Per Axel Rydberg (July 6, 1860 – July 25, 1931) was a Swedish-born, American botanist who was the first curator of the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium.
Biography
Per Axel Rydberg was born in Odh, Västergötland, Sweden and emigrated t ...
in 1916. In 1935,
Philip Alexander Munz declared this to be a variety of ''Artemisia californica.''
Peter Raven later wanted to recognize the
Channel Island plants as a distinct species within ''Artemisia,'' but the name ''Artemisia insularis'' had already been used for a
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...
plant in 1936. Hence Raven's new name, ''Artemisia nesiotica.''
[Raven, Peter Hamilton 1963. Aliso 5(3): 341]
References
External links
Calflora Database: ''Artemisia nesiotica'' (Island sagebrush)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Artemisia nesiotica''*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4797497
nesiotica
Endemic flora of California
Natural history of the Channel Islands of California
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Plants described in 1916