''Lomatium shevockii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Owens Peak desertparsley, or Owens Peak lomatium. 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 elsew ...

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County comprise ...

, where it is known from only two occurrences at Owens Peak, one of the highest points of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. It is a plant of the talus and wooded slopes of the high mountains. This species was discovered in 1984 and first described to science in 1988.Hartman, R.L. & L.Constance. (1988). A new ''Lomatium'' (Apiaceae) from the Sierran Crest of California. ''Madroño'' 35: 121-125. This is a perennial herb growing no more than about 12 centimeters tall from a thin taproot. There is generally no stem, the leaves and

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 o ...

emerging at ground level. The waxy gray-green leaf blades are made up of several very small, sharp-toothed, fleshy segments. The

is a small

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

of tiny purple flowers.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileU.C. Photos gallery
shevockii Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of Kern County, California Plants described in 1988 Taxa named by Lincoln Constance {{Apiaceae-stub