Ancistrocarphus keilii

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Ancistrocarphus
Species:
A. keilii
Binomial name
Ancistrocarphus keilii
Morefield

Ancistrocarphus keilii is a rare species of flowering plant known by the common name Santa Ynez groundstar. It is endemic to Santa Barbara County, California,[2] where it is known only from three populations in the Santa Ynez River drainage. There were 180 individuals estimated in existence,[1] until 2023, when a few thousand bloomed. The plant was described to science in 2004.[3]

Ancistrocarphus keilii grows in sandy soils in chaparral habitat adjacent to oak woodlands. The plant is considered to be vulnerable to extinction because it is rare, its populations are located in habitat that is likely to be disturbed or developed, and because it apparently has no effective method of biological dispersal.[1][4][5]

Description

This is a petite and easily overlooked annual herb. There is no stem, just a small rosette of spoon-shaped leaves no more than 1 or 2 centimeters long. The leaf blades are borne on petioles with thin, expanded bases that surround the inflorescence. There is one flower head 2 or 3 millimeters long which is hidden amidst the leaf bases. The tiny achene generally germinates directly next to its parent, so that the plants become a carpetlike layer.[4]

The species is named in honor of California botanist David John Keil (1946-).[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Nature Conservancy
  2. ↑ Solis, Nathan (2023-05-22). "A plant smaller than a penny is rediscovered on a Lompoc military base. Here's why we should care". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. ↑ Morefield, J. D. (2004). New taxa and names in North American Ancistrocarphus, Diaperia, and Logfia (Asteraceae: Gnaphalieae: Filagininae) and related taxa. Novon 14:4 463-75.
  4. 1 2 Flora of North America, Ancistrocarphus keilii
  5. ↑ Calfora taxon report, University of California @ Berkeley, Ancistrocarphus keilii Morefield, Santa Ynez groundstar
  6. ↑ The International Plant Names Index


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