''Navarretia prolifera'' is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names bur pincushionplant and yellow bur navarretia. 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 the Sierra Nevada foothills of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, where it grows near running water.

Description

''Navarretia prolifera'' is an annual herb with branching or whorled spreading stems up to about 16 centimetres in height. The leaves are threadlike or divided into threadlike lobes. 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 cluster of flowers surrounded by hairy leaflike bracts divided into pointed, needlelike lobes. The flower is about a centimeter long. There are two subspecies of the plant, ssp. ''lutea'' bearing yellow flowers and ssp. ''prolifera'' with yellow-throated purple flowers. The less common ssp. ''lutea'' is known only from

El Dorado County, California El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento-Rosevil ...

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Navarretia prolifera''Photo gallery: ssp. ''lutea''Photo gallery: ssp. ''prolifera''
prolifera Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polemoniaceae-stub