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Endemic Species
According to Barbara Ertter, Curator of Western North America Flora at the Jepson Herbarium at U.C. Berkeley, “California has about 6,300 native vascular plant species, about 1/3 are endemic (found only) in the state. Mount Diablo has 900 plant species of which a quarter are non-native, yet non-natives represent a vast majority of what you see in grassland areas. Twenty-nine plant species on Mount Diablo are considered rare or endangered and eleven are endemic to the Mount Diablo region, including the Mount Diablo buckwheat.”
Recently, two new plant species, the Lime Ridge Navarretia and Wooly Star, were discovered on Mount Diablo and another, the Mount Diablo Buckwheat, was rediscovered after several years of presumed extinction. Below is a table of other plant species endemic to the Mount Diablo area.
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) keeps track of plants that are likely extinct in the Online Inventory of Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plants of California. sfbaywildlife.info has additional information on local wildlife.
Test your knowledge! Can you identify these endemic plants?
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Click on an image to see the answers below.
Other endemic species in the Mount Diablo area
| Species |
Scientific Name
Location |
Status, Federal/State/CNPS |
| Brewer's Phacelia |
Phacelia breweri,
Mount Diablo and Hamilton Range |
|
| Chaparral Harebell |
Campanula exigua,
Mount Diablo and Hamilton Range |
|
| Contra Costa Manzanita |
Arctostaphylos manzanita ssp. Laevigata,
Mount Diablo, Black Diamond, Morgan Territory |
|
| Jepson's Coyote Thistle |
Mount Diablo |
|
| Mount Diablo Buckwheat |
Eriogonum truncatum,
historical range of Mount Diablo to Antioch, with an old record from Solano Co. as well |
--/--/1A presumed extinct (until recently) |
| Mount Diablo manzanita |
Arctostaphylos auriculta,
Mount Diablo & adjacent uplands in Contra Costa Co. |
C3c/--/1B |
| Mount Diablo sunflower |
Helianthella castanea,
common on Mount Diablo proper, and also occurring on adjacent uplands, parts of the East Bay hills, historically on the San Francisco peninsula |
C2/--/1B |
| Mount Diablo fairy lantern (or globe lily) |
Calochortus pulchellus,
Mount Diablo & adjacent uplands, also Briones to Carquinez, and possibly Solano Co |
--/--/IB |
| Mount Diablo bird's beak |
Cordylanthus nidularius,
restricted to serpentine on Mount Diablo |
C1/R/1B |
| Mount Diablo phacelia |
Phacelia phacelioides,
Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton Range (known from fewer than 20 occurrences, many historical) |
C2/--/1B |
| Mount Diablo jewel flower |
Streptanthus hispidus,
only Mount Diablo proper |
C2/--/1B |
| Rock Sanicle |
Sanicula saxatilis,
Mount Diablo and northern Hamilton Range |
|
A. Mount Diablo globe lily
B. Mount Diablo manzanita
C. Jepson's coyote thistle
D. Mount Diablo sunflower
E. Mount Diablo jewel flower
|
