''Dissanthelium californicum'' (California dissanthelium, Catalina grass) is a rare species of grass in the family

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. It was originally discovered on Santa Catalina, an island off

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 ...

's coast in 1847 by U.S. botanist and naturalist

William Gambel William Gambel (June 1823 – December 13, 1849) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, and botanist from Philadelphia. As a young man he worked closely with the renowned naturalist Thomas Nuttall. At the age of eighteen he traveled overland ...

. It was later identified as growing on

Guadalupe Island Guadalupe Island ( es, Isla Guadalupe, link=no) is a volcanic island located off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and about southwest of the city of Ensenada in the state of Baja California, in the Pacific Ocean. The ...

(off Baja California Peninsula), on

San Clemente Island San Clemente Island (Tongva: ''Kinkipar''; Spanish: ''Isla de San Clemente'') is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California. It is owned and operated by the United States Navy, and is a part of Los Angeles County. It is administered b ...

and Catalina Island (both off southern California). Last seen in 1912, ''Dissanthelium californicum'' was generally thought to be

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

, until examples were found on March 29, 2005, by Jenny McCune of the

Catalina Island Conservancy The Catalina Island Conservancy is a nonprofit organization established to protect and restore Santa Catalina Island, California, United States. The Conservancy was established in 1972 through the efforts of the Wrigley and Offield families. The ...

on Catalina Island. In 2010, two populations were found on San Clemente Island. It has not reappeared on Guadalupe Island.

References

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Catalina Island Conservancy Times
Fall 2005

External links

Calflora Database: ''Dissanthelium californicum'' (California dissanthelium, Catalina grass)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Dissanthelium californicum''USDA Plants Profile for ''Dissanthelium californicum'' (Catalina grass)Grass Manual Treatment: ''Dissanthelium californicum''

Catalina Island Conservancy

Pooideae Native grasses of California Grasses of Mexico Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of Mexican Pacific Islands Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands ~ Endangered biota of Mexico Plants described in 1848 {{Pooideae-stub

See also

References

External links