''Navarretia mellita'' is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name honeyscented pincushionplant. 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 only from several coastal and inland mountains and foothills in the central region of the state. It generally grows in moist spots in

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 other habitat. It is a hairy, glandular annual herb growing 10 to 20 centimeters tall. The leaves are divided into many narrow linear lobes. 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 head of flowers lined with leaflike

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. Each flower is about half a centimeter long and tubular in shape with a white throat and a blue lobed face.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery

mellita Keyhole sand dollar refers to three species of sand dollars in the genus ''Mellita''. They are found on the Atlantic coasts of the Americas, ranging from Caribbean Islands, such as Jamaica and Puerto Rico, to the southern areas of the United Stat ...

Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polemoniaceae-stub