Monolopia congdonii

San joaquin woollythreads, San Joaquin Woollythreads

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Endangered

San joaquin woollythreads is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the southern San Joaquin Valley grasslands on sandy soils at elevations of 90 to 700 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces white to cream-colored flowers in small heads with delicate, reflexed phyllaries. Growing with decumbent to ascending branched stems generally 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it spreads in low, open clusters across dry grassland terrain. Its leaves are variably shaped, typically small and somewhat narrow, distributed along the stems with increasing sparseness toward the branch tips. The fruit is compressed, two-angled, and fringed with 2 to 7 small scales, reflecting its adaptation to dry, exposed habitats.

Habitat: Grassland, sandy soils

Bloom period: Feb-May

Elevation: 90-700 m

Bioregions: s SnJV.

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Fresno, Kings, Kern, San Benito, Santa Barbara

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.