''Sidalcea keckii'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the mallow family, known by the common names Keck's checkerbloom and Keck's checkermallow.

Distribution

The plant 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 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is known from the Inner Northern

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

and Southern

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 primari ...

foothills. ;Southern Sierra Three recent occurrences in the southern Sierra, all of which may have been

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

by now.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> The plant was thought

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

in the southern Sierra until it was rediscovered at one site in

Tulare County Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lake ...

in 1992. This site, which was located on private land, has since been converted for orange groves, possibly eliminating the plant.USFWS
Final designation of critical habitat for ''Sidalcea keckii'' (Keck's checkermallow).
''Federal Register'' March 18, 2003. The owner of the land has not allowed any searches for the plant since then, but the area is considered critical habitat for this federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Description

''Sidalcea keckii'' is an annual herb growing up to 35 centimeters tall which is bristly from top to base. The leaves have blades shallowly edged or deeply divided into lobes, the upper blades with toothed edges. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a dense cluster of a few flowers with deep pink petals measuring 1 to 2 centimeters long. Each flower has a calyx of pointed green

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 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s which may be streaked with pink. The bloom period is April and May.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Sidalcea keckii'' (Keck's checkerbloom)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Sidalcea keckii''USDA Plants Profile for ''Sidalcea keckii''UC CalPhotos gallery: ''Sidalcea keckii''
keckii Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges {{Malveae-stub