''Castilleja grisea'' is a rare species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush. 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 ...

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 ...

, one of 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 ...

. San Clemente Island is owned by the US Navy so the Navy is involved in a management program to recover this species.

Description

The San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush is a perennial herb coated densely in long gray hairs. The highly branching stem grows 40 to 60 centimeters tall and bears linear leaves each a few centimeters long. 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 made up of layers of

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

one to two centimeters long, gray-green in color at the bases and tipped with greenish yellow. Between the bracts emerge dull yellow pouched flowers. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long containing tiny seeds with netted surfaces.

Distribution

This species was once considered to be "relatively common" on its home island.USFWS
''Castilleja grisea'' Five-year Review.
September, 2007. Since then the habitat has been severely degraded, mainly by

feral goat The feral goat is the domestic goat (''Capra aegagrus hircus'') when it has become established in the wild. Feral goats occur in many parts of the world. Species Feral goats consist of many breeds of goats, all of which stem from the wild goat ...

s which were introduced there.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> The island was also used for grazing

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

, and some

feral pig The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids. Definition A feral pi ...

s were present. The animals may have eaten the plant at times, but they mainly damaged the land by trampling the soil, which led to

soil compaction In geotechnical engineering, soil compaction is the process in which stress applied to a soil causes densification as air is displaced from the pores between the soil grains. When stress is applied that causes densification due to water (or other ...

, loss of

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...

, and

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

. The

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

of exotic plant species such as

ripgut brome Ripgut brome or ripgut grass refers to some species of brome grasses (''Bromus''): * '' Bromus diandrus'' (great brome) * '' Bromus rigidus'' (stiff brome) The name refers to the fact that even for brome grasses, these species are heavily sclerot ...

(''Bromus diandrus''),

wild oat ''Avena'' is a genus of Eurasian and African plants in the grass family. Collectively known as the oats, they include some species which have been cultivated for thousands of years as a food source for humans and livestock. They are widespread ...

(''Avena barbata''), and red brome (''Bromus madritensis rubus'') also degraded the habitat. Due to steep terrain of San Clemente Island the exact abundance of ''Castilleja grisea'' is not currently known. Recent surveys have discovered new populations of this species. Surveys in 2007 estimate more than 10,000 plants existing. This plant has been 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 ...

since 1977, when it was one of the first species to be designated so.Center for Plant Conservation
The plant's population had been drastically reduced by the activity of the feral goats. Its populations has increased at least ten-fold since the removal of these non-native herbivores. The species has recovered so well through management programs by the Navy, it was recommended for downlisting during the last review conducted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.California Native Plant Society Profile
/ref> Remaining threats include erosion, invasive grasses, and

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

from

military exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

s. The species has a relatively high

genetic variability Genetic variability is either the presence of, or the generation of, genetic differences. It is defined as "the formation of individuals differing in genotype, or the presence of genotypically different individuals, in contrast to environmentally i ...

for an uncommon island endemic. This and its steady recovery from low numbers give an optimistic outlook for the species' recovery.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment: ''Castilleja grisea''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5049906 grisea Endemic flora of California Natural history of the Channel Islands of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands NatureServe imperiled species