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Yreka
Phlox
To view or download a copy of the Recovery Plan for
Phlox hirsuta (Yreka Phlox)
please click
here.
( The recovery plan is in Adobe Acrobat format, 6.90 Mb
and 107 pp.)
| The Yreka phlox (Phlox hirsuta)
is known from only four locations in and near Yreka, Siskiyou County,
California. This species grows on serpentine soils at elevations between
2,800 and 4,400 feet, in association with Jeffrey pine, incense cedar,
and western juniper. |
Photo: USFWS/C. Oakley |
| A perennial in the phlox family,
plants grow from two to almost six inches tall and produce bright
rose-pink to white flowers from April to June. Yreka phlox can be
distinguished from other phlox species that grow in Siskiyou County
by the presence of long, stiff hairs that cover the plant and the
rounded as opposed to notched petal tips. In addition, the three stigmas
(the uppermost part of the pistil that receives the pollen) are shorter
than the style (the stalk-like part of the pistil or seed-producing
organ of a plant) to which they are attached. In 1899, Elias
Nelson described Yreka phlox based on an 1876 collection made near
Yreka by Edward L. Greene. E.L. Green was an Episcopal Priest
at Saint Lawrence's, now Saint Mark's, Episcopal Church in Yreka.
In addition to being a priest, he was a keen botanist who eventually
became the University of California's first botanist. |
Photo: USFWS/C.
Oakley |
This
plant is protected as an endangered species by both the Federal and
State law. Alteration of its habitat by urban development and vulnerability
to extinction from random events (e.g. disease), as a result of the
small number of individuals and populations, are the major threats
to this species' survival. |
Photo: USFWS/C. Oakley
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Photo: USFWS/C. Oakley |
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Last updated:
May 6, 2008
