Navarretia ojaiensis

Navarretia ojaiensis
Navarretia ojaiensis
Conservation status

Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Polemoniaceae
Genus: Navarretia
Species: N. ojaiensis
Binomial name
Navarretia ojaiensis
Elvin, J. M. Porter & L. A. Johnson.

Navarretia ojaiensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Ojai navarretia. It occurs in Ventura County, California, where it is known from the Ojai Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, and the Santa Susana Mountains.[1] It may also occur in the Santa Monica Mountains within Los Angeles County, but the population known from there may have been extirpated by now.[2] It was on land that was converted to a parking lot at the home of the composer Marco Beltrami.[3] Many of the known occurrences may no longer exist, because they are in areas that have experienced urban development.[1] All but one of the remaining populations are in locations which are likely to be developed or altered.[1] One population is on a slope in Agoura Hills which is slated to be cleared for the construction of the new headquarters for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.[4]

This is an annual herb with a spreading, upright stem growing up to 33 centimeters long. The hairy, glandular leaves have blades divided into narrow, pointed lobes lined with tiny teeth. The inflorescence has narrow, pointed bracts and sepals around the flowers which are densely coated in shiny hairs and resin glands. The tubular flower corolla is roughly a centimeter long and white in color with purple markings in the throat. The five corolla lobes are pointed and the stamens protrude from within the throat.

This plant is new to science, having been officially described in 2007, accompanied by an updated key to the genus.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c The Nature Conservancy
  2. ^ California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
  3. ^ California Native Plant Society, Channel Islands
  4. ^ Walla-Murphy, M. The Flower and the Foundation. Agoura Patch December 9, 2010.
  5. ^ Johnson, L. A. (2007). Two new species and a reassessment of synonymy in the Navarretia pubescens complex (Polemoniaceae) of western North America. Novon. 17:4 454-61.

External links

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