''Eremalche parryi'' is a species of flowering plant in the
mallow family
Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar o ...
known by the common name Parry's mallow.
It is
endemic to
California, where it grows in several types of habitat from the
Diablo Range and down the Inner South
California Coast Ranges to the
Transverse Ranges, and across the
San Joaquin Valley.
Description
''Eremalche parryi'' is an annual herb growing erect to half a meter in maximum height. The leaves are up to 5 centimeters long and divided into several tooth-tipped lobes. The flowers are located in leaf axils and sometimes at the stem tips.
The flower varies in size, the petals half a centimeter to 2.5 centimeters long. They are white to light purple or pink.
Subspecies
*''Eremalche parryi'' ssp. ''kernensis'' — Kern mallow
::A rare plant known only from western
Kern County, California around the tiny community of
McKittrick and
Carrizo Plain National Monument
The Carrizo Plain ( Obispeño: ''tšɨłkukunɨtš'', "Place of the rabbits") is a large enclosed grassland plain, approximately long and up to across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, about northwest of Los Angeles. It co ...
in eastern
San Luis Obispo County.
[CSU Stanislaus Endangered Species Recovery Program]
/ref>
::It is sometimes treated as a species of its own, ''Eremalche kernensis'', especially by local botanists, or the plants may be considered members of a spectrum, the Kern/Parry's mallow complex, without further formal definition.[ This subspecies has an uncertain taxonomy.
::Regardless of designation, Kern mallow is still 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 ...
. Threats to the Kern mallow's survival include the construction of and impacts to the watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
from the California Aqueduct
The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after Cali ...
and grazing, pesticide use, and land conversion in the heavily agricultural San Joaquin Valley region where it grows.
*''Eremalche parryi'' ssp. ''parryi'' Calflora: ''Eremalche parryi'' ssp. ''parryi''
/ref>
References
External links
*
Calflora: Eremalche parryi'' (Parry's mallow)Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileThe Nature ConservancyPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5385430
Malveae
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of the Central Valley (California)
Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
~