''Lomatium stebbinsii'', known by the common name Stebbins' desertparsley, is a rare species of flowering plant in the

carrot family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

Distribution

The plant 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 ...

to the central−western

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

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 ...

. It is known only from the slopes near the border of Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties, within the

Stanislaus National Forest Stanislaus National Forest is a U.S. National Forest which manages of land in four counties in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest national forests. It was named after t ...

.Calflora: ''Lomatium stebbinsii''
/ref> It is a plant of

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 ...

and lower montane coniferous forest

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

Description

''Lomatium stebbinsii'' is a perennial herb growing no more than about tall from a rounded

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

. There is generally no stem, the leaves and

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 ...

emerging at ground level. The sparse leaves are shiny green and hairless. Each has leaf blades divided into linear leaflets. The

is a small

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

of yellow flowers. ;Conservation The California Native Plant Society lists the plant as a critically endangered species.California Native Plant Society, Rare Plant Program. "Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants" (online edition, v8-02)
. accessed 9.30.2015.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Lomatium stebbinsii'' (Stebbins' desertparsley, Stebbins's lomatium)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Lomatium stebbinsii''USDA Plants Profile for ''Lomatium stebbinsii'' (Stebbins' desertparsley)UC Photos gallery — ''Lomatium stebbinsii''
stebbinsii Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of Calaveras County, California Natural history of Tuolumne County, California Stanislaus National Forest Plants described in 1979 Taxa named by Lincoln Constance Critically endangered flora of California {{Apiaceae-stub