Lessingia germanorum

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Asteroideae
Tribus: Astereae
Subtribus: Machaerantherinae
Genus: Lessingia
Species: Lessingia germanorum
Name

Lessingia germanorum Cham.
Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America
Regional: Southwestern U.S.A.
USA (California)

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

Cham., Linnaea; Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange. Berlin 4:203. 1829

Links

International Plant Names Index. 2017. Lessingia germanorum. Published online. Accessed: Dec. 17 2017.
The Plant List 2013. Lessingia germanorum in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Dec. 17.
Tropicos.org 2017. Lessingia germanorum. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Dec. 17.
Hassler, M. 2017. Lessingia germanorum. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Dec 17. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Lessingia germanorum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: San Francisco lessingia

Lessingia germanorum is a rare species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common name San Francisco lessingia. It is endemic to California, where it is known from four populations in the Presidio of San Francisco and one occurrence on San Bruno Mountain south of San Francisco.[1] It is a state and federally listed endangered species. The already rare plant is endangered by many processes, including invasive species, development, sand mining, off-road vehicles and bulldozers, habitat fragmentation, trampling, and pollution, as well as stochastic events.[2]

This is an annual herb producing a decumbent to erect, reddish stem no more than 30 centimeters long. The deeply lobed leaves are up to 3 or 4 centimeters long. Some leaves and new stem parts are coated in woolly fibers. The inflorescence is a solitary flower head or cluster of heads at the tip of the stem. The bell-shaped involucre is lined with pointed phyllaries that curl back as the head matures. The head is discoid, with no ray florets but several tubular golden disc florets with raylike lobes. The plant blooms in July through November.[3] The fruit is an achene with a whitish pappus.

This plant grows in beach sand dunes and scrub and similar sandy habitat. It is native to the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, a land mass which is intensely developed and urbanized.[2] The single population known on San Bruno Mountain near Daly City was discovered in 1989 and is threatened by the construction of houses in the immediate vicinity.[2] The largest population of the plants is in the dunes at the mouth of Lobos Creek in the San Francisco Presidio.[3] Habitat in the area is infested with non-native species such as ice plant (Carpobrotus sp.), which produces mats of herbage over the sand dunes, stabilizing the sand; the lessingia requires shifting, windblown sand habitat.[2] Introduced trees have also altered the habitat of the lessingia. Old Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) planted many decades ago remain in the Presidio dunes; these native California trees are not native to this particular ecosystem, and have become detrimental.[4]
References

California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
US Fish & Wildlife Service. Endangered status for the plant Lessingia germanorum (San Francisco Lessingia) from California. Federal Register 62:118. June 19, 1997.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area: 2008 Endangered Species Big Year
Schwartz, K. (2005). Effectively restoring the San Francisco dune ecosystem and protecting endangered species: Why removing a plantation of invasive trees is necessary. Archived 2006-09-12 at the Wayback Machine UC Davis Ecology.