''Monardella follettii'' is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the

mint family The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, sav ...

known by the common name Follett's monardella.

Distribution

''Monardella follettii'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is known from about twenty occurrences in the northern High Sierra Nevada, mostly in

Plumas County Plumas County () is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 19,790. The county seat is Quincy, and the only incorporated city is Portola. The largest comm ...

— in the

Lassen National Forest Lassen National Forest is a United States national forest of 1,700 square miles (4,300 km2) in northeastern California. It is named after pioneer Peter Lassen, who mined, ranched and promoted the area to emigrant parties in the 1850s. Overv ...

. It grows in rocky mountain forests and slopes, sometimes on

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially an ...

Description

''Monardella follettii'' is a perennial herb producing a slender erect stem which is purple in color and mostly hairless in texture. The lance-shaped, smooth-edged leaves are oppositely arranged about the stem. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a head of several pink flowers blooming in a cup of leathery, hairy, glandular

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

External links

Calflora Database: ''Monardella follettii'' (Follett's monardella)

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Monardella follettii''

USDA Plants Profile for ''Monardella follettii''

UC Photos gallery: ''Monardella follettii''
follettii Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) ~ Natural history of Plumas County, California Taxa named by Willis Linn Jepson {{Lamiaceae-stub