''Eryngium pendletonense'' (sometimes spelled ''E. pendletonensis'') is a rare species of flowering plant in the

carrot family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

known by the common name Pendleton button-celery. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to northern

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

, where it is known from four occurrences along the coastline between

Oceanside Oceanside may refer to: Places United States *Oceanside, California ** Oceanside Transit Center *Oceanside, New York ** Oceanside station (LIRR) *Oceanside, Oregon Other places *Oceanside, New South Wales, Australia *Oceanside, British Columbia ...

and the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

border, including land within

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

.California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
/ref> It grows on vernally moist coastal

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

and

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

habitat with

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

soils. It was first described as a species in 1999.Marsden, K. L. and M. G. Simpson. (1999). ''Eryngium pendletonensis'' (Apiaceae), a new species from southern California. ''Madroño'' 46: 55-58. This is a squat

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

with spreading stems up to 20 centimeters long with a basal rosette of leaves at the base. The leaves are long and very narrow with abrupt, pointed lobes extending out nearly perpendicular. The leaves may extend out from the base of the plant up to 25 centimeters. Plants may be colonial, with two or more plants growing in a bundle that appears to be one plant at first glance.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

is a cyme of up to 19 flowers with sharp triangular or lance-shaped bracts around the base. Each flower has white petals measuring 1 millimeter long and

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s which are slightly larger. This rare plant is threatened by introduced plant species, changes in the

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

of the habitat, and military activity at Camp Pendleton.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5396301 pendletonense Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of San Diego County, California Plants described in 1999 Critically endangered flora of California