''Navarretia prostrata'' is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names prostrate pincushionplant and prostrate vernal pool 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 ...

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 ...

. The plant has a scattered distribution from 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 ...

, through the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...

and Peninsular Ranges, to the southern border. It is an occasional member of the flora in

vernal pool 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 ...

s and similar habitat.

Description

''Navarretia prostrata'' is a petite annual herb sitting prostrate on the ground with a central stem and flower head and radiating stem branches bearing more heads. The hairless leaves are divided into many threadlike lobes. 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 cluster of flowers surrounded by leaflike bracts. The flowers are just under a centimeter long, their blue or white corollas divided into narrow lobes.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
prostrata 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 Peninsular Ranges {{Polemoniaceae-stub