San Joquin Wooly-Threads
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Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office

Species Account

SAN JOAQUIN WOOLY-THREADS
(Monolopia congdonii)

CLASSIFICATION:   Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register 55:29361; July 19, 1990.)
(Note: The species was listed under the name Lembertia congdonii.)

CRITICAL HABITAT: None designated.

RECOVERY PLAN: Recovery plan for the upland species of the San Joaquin Valley, California, September 30. 1998. (pdf format)

DESCRIPTION:

San Joaquin wooly-threads (Monolopia congdonii), is an annual herb in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). It has tiny yellow flower heads clustered at the tips of erect to trailing stems covered with tangled hairs. Seeds may germinate as early as November, but usually germinate in December and January. Flowering generally occurs between late February and early April, and may continue into May.

In contrast to the more persistent skeletons of Hoover`s woolly-star or eriastrum (Eriastrum hooveri), all traces of San Joaquin wooly-threads disappear rapidly after seeds are shed in April or May. Seed dispersal agents are unknown, but may include wind, water and animals. Seed-dormancy mechanisms are thought to allow the formation of a substantial seed bank in the soil. See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description of the species.

DISTRIBUTION:

San Joaquin wooly-threads grows on neutral to subalkaline soils. On the San Joaquin Valley floor, it typically is found on sandy or sandy loam soils, whereas in the Carrizo Plain it occurs on silty soils. San Joaquin wooly-threads occupies microhabitats in nonnative grassland, valley saltbush scrub, interior Coast Range saltbush scrub and upper sonoran subshrub communities. It has been reported from elevations ranging from 200 to 850 feet on the San Joaquin Valley floor, and from 2,000 to 2,600 feet in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

This species is found only in the southern San Joaquin Valley and surrounding hills. Its original range extended from southern Fresno and Tulare counties to Bakersfield and Cuyama Valley. It currently exists as four metapopulations (separate populations between which there is some migration and gene flow) and several small, isolated populations. The largest metapopulation occurs on the Carrizo Plain, where occupied habitat varies from a high of 2,800 acres in a favorable year to much less in years of lower rainfall. Much smaller metapopulations occur in Kern County near Lost Hills, in the Kettleman Hills of Fresno and Kings counties, and in the Jacalitos Hills of Fresno County. Isolated occurrences are known from the Panoche Hills in Fresno and San Benito counties, near the city of Bakersfield, and the Cuyama Valley.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Potential threats to one or more sites or metapopulations of San Joaquin wooly-threads include commercial development, conversion of natural habitat to agriculture, increased petroleum production, competition from nonnative plants and either complete removal or grazing or uncontrolled grazing.

Population and plant size can vary depending on site and weather conditions.  Seed production depends on plant size and number of flower heads. In years of below-average precipitation, few seeds of this species germinate, and those that do typically produce tiny plants.

Although the species has not been officially listed by the State of California, the Department of Fish and Game considers it to be "threatened." The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Baldwin, B.G. 2001. Review of name changes in California tarweeds.

Brown, N. L. and E. A. Cypher. Endangered Species Recovery Program profile.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1990. Endangeredand Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered or Threatened Status for Five Plants from the Southern San Joaquln Valley. Portland, Oregon.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1998. Recovery plan for upland species of the San Joaquin Valley, California. Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

General Information about California Plants

Photo credit: San Joquin Wooly-Threads ©1986 Dean Wm. Taylor Calphoto ID: 0000 0000 0801 0372

Prepared by Endangered Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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