''Calystegia stebbinsii'' is a rare species of morning glory known by the common name Stebbins' false bindweed. It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills and the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, of California. It grows in unique habitat in

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 ...

on gabbro soils. It is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

Description

''Calystegia stebbinsii'' is a perennial herb producing climbing, white haired, vine-like stems approaching a meter in maximum length. The leaves are up to about 5 centimeters long and palmate in shape with 7 to 9 long, narrow lobes; the distinctive shape of the leaves make the plant easy to identify among the morning glories native to the region. The inflorescence bears flowers atop long peduncles, each flower about 3 centimeters wide and white or cream-yellow in color, sometimes tinted with pink. They are pollinated by

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

s and other insects.Hinshaw, G
Pine Hill Preserve Management Plan.
July 2008. Like many other chaparral plants, this species has seeds which are stimulated to germinate by exposure to wildfire.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> It also reproduces via

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

Conservation

The plant's type specimen was collected by

G. Ledyard Stebbins George Ledyard Stebbins Jr. (January 6, 1906 – January 19, 2000) was an American botanist and geneticist who is widely regarded as one of the leading evolutionary biologists of the 20th century. Stebbins received his Ph.D. in botany from Har ...

in 1970 outside of Placerville, California.USFWS
Determination of endangered status for four plants and threatened status for one plant from the central Sierran foothills of California.
''Federal Register'' October 18, 1996. The species was described to science and named for him in 1974.Brummitt, R. K. (1974). A remarkable new species of ''Calystegia'' (Convolvulaceae) from California. ''Kew Bulletin'' 29:3 499. The plant is known from only two locations, each containing a scattering of occurrences. Both locations are on the Pine Hill

intrusion In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

, a section of gabbro-based rock that oozed as magma into the surrounding rock and then solidified there, eventually becoming exposed as the softer rock around them eroded away. This gabbro intrusion yields red-colored soil that is rich in heavy metals, and some plants are adapted to this kind of substrate. ''C. stebbinsii'' grows on the gabbro soil as well as the similar

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

that can also be found in the intrusion. Other species are completely limited to the gabbro sections. The

Pine Hill Ecological Reserve Pine Hill Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of located due east of Folsom Lake in the Sierra Nevada foothills, in El Dorado County, California. The reserve was established in 1979, and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The Pine ...

was established to protect these unique and often rare plant species. At the time it was placed on the endangered species list, at least one third of the known occurrences of the plant had been destroyed, mostly by development of its habitat. Most of the sites that still existed were in danger of destruction. With destruction and

fragmentation Fragmentation or fragmented may refer to: Computers * Fragmentation (computing), a phenomenon of computer storage * File system fragmentation, the tendency of a file system to lay out the contents of files non-continuously * Fragmented distributi ...

of the habitat come associated activity such as road construction, trash dumping, off-road vehicle use, and

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

s. The plant does not tolerate shade, and when the brush around it grows too high and shades it out, it does not survive. This suggests it requires disturbance, such as wildfire, to clear the overgrowth. Fire suppression is detrimental. Protected and managed areas of the habitat undergo

controlled burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Calystegia stebbinsii''''Calystegia stebbinsii'' - Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q148359 stebbinsii Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of El Dorado County, California Natural history of Nevada County, California Plants described in 1974 NatureServe critically imperiled species Critically endangered flora of California