''Scalesia affinis'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

Asteraceae Asteraceae () is a large family (biology), family of flowering plants that consists of over 32,000 known species in over 1,900 genera within the Order (biology), order Asterales. The number of species in Asteraceae is rivaled only by the Orchi ...

. It 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 ...

to the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. It is one of the most widely distributed ''Scalesia'' species and occurs on four major islands:

Fernandina Island Fernandina Island () is the youngest and third largest island in the Galápagos, as well as the furthest west. It has an area of and a height of , with a summit caldera about wide. It is younger than Isabela, being only less than one million ...

, Isabela Island (main distribution area),

Santa Cruz Island Santa Cruz Island (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Isla Santa Cruz'', Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''Limuw'') is located off the southwestern coast of Ventura, California, United States. It is the largest island in California and largest of the ei ...

and

Floreana Island Floreana Island () is a southern island in Ecuador's Galápagos Archipelago. The island has an area of . It was formed by volcanic eruption. The island's highest point is Cerro Pajas at , which is also the highest point of the volcano like most ...

. Populations from Santa Cruz and Floreana display some morphological and genetic divergence from populations of

and Isabela Island.

References

* Eliasson, U.H. 1974. Studies in Galapagos Plants XIV. The Genus Scalesia Arn.Opera Botanica, 36: 1-117 * Nielsen, L.R. 2004. Molecular differentiation within and among Island Populations of the Endemic Plant Scalesia affinis (Asteraceae) from the Galápagos Islands. Heredity, 93: 434–442. affinis Endemic flora of the Galápagos Islands Least concern plants Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Heliantheae-stub