''Monolopia congdonii'' (formerly ''Lembertia congdonii'') 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 Joaquin woollythread.
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 ...
to
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 only from the southern
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...
and one area in nearby
Santa Barbara County. 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
This is a small annual herb with a trailing or somewhat upright stem coated thinly in woolly fibers. The leaves are up to about 4 centimeters long and have wavy edges. 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 ...
s at the end of stem branches bear small hemispheric
flower heads
A pseudanthium (Greek for "false flower"; ) is an inflorescence that resembles a flower. The word is sometimes used for other structures that are neither a true flower nor a true inflorescence. Examples of pseudanthia include flower heads, compos ...
. Each head is wrapped in
phyllaries with black glandular hairs and has a center of glandular yellow disc florets. There are also yellow ray florets but they are so small they are nearly invisible. Each is about half a millimeter long and has a minutely lobed tip.
See also
*
Joseph Whipple Congdon
Joseph Whipple Congdon (April 13, 1834 – April 5, 1910) was a lawyer by trade who contributed significantly to early botanical exploration in California, particularly in the Yosemite region, where he resided in Mariposa County, California, Marip ...
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment - Monolopia congdoniiMonolopia congdonii - Photo gallery
Madieae
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the Central Valley (California)
Plants described in 1999
{{Madieae-stub