''Lessingia germanorum'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

known by the common name San Francisco lessingia. 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 ...

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 ...

, where it is known from four populations in the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...

and one occurrence on

San Bruno Mountain San Bruno Mountain is horst fault block mountain located in northern San Mateo County, California; with some northern slopes crossing over into southern San Francisco, it is also surrounded by San Francisco Bay and the cities of Brisbane, Colma ...

south of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. It is a state and 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 ...

. The already rare plant is endangered by many processes, including

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

, development, sand mining, off-road vehicles and

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes ...

, trampling, and

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, as well as stochastic events.US Fish & Wildlife Service
Endangered status for the plant ''Lessingia germanorum'' (San Francisco Lessingia) from California
''Federal Register'' 62:118. June 19, 1997. This is an annual herb producing a decumbent to erect, reddish stem no more than 30 centimeters long. The deeply lobed leaves are up to 3 or 4 centimeters long. Some leaves and new stem parts are coated in woolly fibers. 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 a solitary flower head or cluster of heads at the tip of the stem. The bell-shaped involucre is lined with pointed phyllaries that curl back as the head matures. The head is discoid, with no ray florets but several tubular golden disc florets with raylike lobes. The plant blooms in July through November.Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 2008 Endangered Species Big Year
/ref> 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 whitish pappus. This plant grows in beach

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

and scrub and similar sandy habitat. It is native to the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, a land mass which is intensely developed and

urbanized ''Urbanized'' is a documentary film directed by Gary Hustwit and released on 26 October 2011. It is considered the third of a three-part series on design known as the Design Trilogy; the first being ''Helvetica'', about the typeface, and the seco ...

. The single population known on San Bruno Mountain near

Daly City Daly City () is the second most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, with population of 104,901 according to the 2020 census. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and immediately south of San Francisco (sharing its ...

was discovered in 1989 and is threatened by the construction of houses in the immediate vicinity. The largest population of the plants is in the dunes at the mouth of

Lobos Creek Lobos is the headquarters city of the Lobos Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on 2 June 1802 by José Salgado. Background Located 100 km from Buenos Aires, Lobos is currently a fertile agricultural area known mai ...

in the San Francisco Presidio. Habitat in the area is infested with

non-native 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 ...

such as ice plant (''

Carpobrotus ''Carpobrotus'', commonly known as pigface, ice plant, sour fig, Hottentot fig, and clawberry is a genus of ground-creeping plants with succulent leaves and large daisy-like flowers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ' "fruit" and ' "edible", ...

'' sp.), which produces mats of herbage over the sand dunes, stabilizing the sand; the lessingia requires shifting, windblown sand habitat. Introduced

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s have also altered the habitat of the lessingia. Old Monterey cypress (''

Cupressus macrocarpa ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...

'') and Monterey pine (''

Pinus radiata ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the fa ...

'') planted many decades ago remain in the Presidio dunes; these native California trees are not native to this particular

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

, and have become detrimental.Schwartz, K. (2005)
Effectively restoring the San Francisco dune ecosystem and protecting endangered species: Why removing a plantation of invasive trees is necessary.
UC Davis Ecology.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6531694 germanorum Endemic flora of California