''Navarretia cotulifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name cotulaleaf pincushionplant, or cotula navarretia. 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 else ...

to northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where it grows in the Sacramento Valley and the

Coast Ranges The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although th ...

in and around the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. It grows in moist areas in chaparral and

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

habitat, such as

vernal pools Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe ...

, in heavy soils such as adobe

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

Description

''Navarretia cotulifolia'' is a hairy, glandular annual herb producing a branching red or green stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are divided into clusters of tiny needlelike lobes that point toward the tip of the leaf. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a rounded head filled with leaflike green bracts deeply divided into narrow, pointed lobes. The flowers are a centimeter long and tubular, with thread-thin throats and four cream or very pale yellow lobes.

External links

Calflora: ''Navarretia cotulifolia''Jepson Manual TreatmentUC CalPhotos gallery
cotulifolia Endemic flora of California 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 San Francisco Bay Area Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polemoniaceae-stub