''Baccharis vanessae'' 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 ''

Baccharis ''Baccharis'' is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family (Asteraceae). They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are n ...

'' known by the common name Encinitas baccharis. It is native primarily to

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

, almost

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 county except for one population a few miles over the county line in

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...

. It is a member of the

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

flora. It is a federally listed threatened species. It is present in several sites in

Encinitas Encinitas (Spanish for "Small Oaks") is a beach city in the North County area of San Diego County, California. Located within Southern California, it is approximately north of San Diego, between Solana Beach and Carlsbad, and about south o ...

, and it is known from other parts of the county from the coastline to the mountains on various substrates. There are perhaps 15 populations remaining, for a total of about 2000 individuals.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> Some of the remaining occurrences are on land which may be cleared for development.

Description

''Baccharis vanessae'' is a sticky, glandular

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 ...

producing dense, branching, erect stems approaching 2 meters in maximum height. The leaves are linear and up to long. This

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

shrub produces male and female

flower heads A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...

on different individuals. The fruit is an

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 up to a centimeter long. Often found are elongated lepidopteran galls which Oscar Clarke of Riverside suggests indicates a very old relationship of evolution.

Conservation

Habitat destruction is a threat to the species.

Fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...

in the fire-prone chaparral habitat threaten those plants occurring near residential areas.

Introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

of plants have altered the local plant community. Some of the populations are very small, made up of just a few individuals, reducing their

genetic viability Genetic viability is the ability of the genes present to allow a cell, organism or population to survive and reproduce. The term is generally used to mean the chance or ability of a population to avoid the problems of inbreeding. Less commonly gen ...

. The species name ''vanessae'' honors Vanessa Beth Beauchamp, first daughter of the botanist who first described the species and who is currently an Associate Professor of Biology at

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

.Beauchamp, R. Mitchell 1980. Phytologia 46(4): 216–222
includes photos, line drawings, and distribution maps

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Baccharis vanessae''USDA Plants Profile; ''Baccharis vanessae''USFS Threatened Species ProfileFlora of North America; Baccharis vanessae''Baccharis vanessae'' - Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4838652 vanessae Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of San Diego County, California Plants described in 1980 NatureServe critically imperiled species Critically endangered flora of California

Description

Conservation

See also

References

External links