Pseudobahia bahiifolia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Pseudobahia
Species:
P. bahiifolia
Binomial name
Pseudobahia bahiifolia
Synonyms

Monolopia bahiifolia

Pseudobahia bahiifolia is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Hartweg's golden sunburst.[2]

Distribution

Pseudobahia bahiifolia is endemic to California, where it is known from a few small occurrences along the eastern side of the Central Valley and the lower central Sierra Nevada foothills. It grows in grassland and oak woodland habitat. It prefers heavy clay soils, particularly along the tops of Mima mounds.[1] The plant's native range is on land that has been heavily altered by agriculture, leaving little habitat intact, and the plant became a federally listed endangered species of the United States in 1997.[1][3]

Description

This species, Pseudobahia bahiifolia, is an annual herb growing 5 to 20 centimeters tall. It has a thin coating of woolly hairs. The linear or lance-shaped leaves are up to 2.5 centimeters long and often have three small lobes near the tips.

The inflorescence is a solitary sunflowerlike flower head lined with three to eight phyllaries. There is one golden ray floret per phyllary, up to a centimeter in length and sometimes faintly toothed at the tip. At the center of the head are yellow disc florets. The blooming period is 3 to 4 weeks long, occurring in March and April.[1] The fruit is an achene about 2 millimeters long.

Conservation status

The main threat to its remaining populations is destruction of its habitat for residential development.[1] About 90% of all individuals of this species occur in two main locations, one of which was scheduled to be cleared for housing construction when the plant was listed as an endangered species.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 USFWS. Determination of Endangered Status for Pseudobahia bahiifolia (Hartweg's golden sunburst) and Threatened Status for Pseudobahia peirsonii (San Joaquin adobe sunburst), Two Grassland Plants From the Central Valley of California. Federal Register February 6, 1997.
  2. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Pseudobahia bahiifolia". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. ↑ California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
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