Monardella undulata

Monardella undulata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Monardella
Species: M. undulata
Binomial name
Monardella undulata
Benth.

Monardella undulata is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name curlyleaf monardella.

Distribution

It is endemic to the coast of California from Sonoma to Santa Barbara Counties, where it is known from several coastal habitat types, including dunes, scrub, chaparral, and forest.

Description

It is a mostly hairless annual herb producing an erect, reddish stem up to half a meter in maximum height. The fleshy, wavy-edged leaves are located in clusters along the stem. The inflorescence is a head of several flowers blooming in a small cup of rough-haired, sometimes purple-tinged bracts up to 3 centimeters wide. The flowers are purple in color and up to 2 centimeters long.

Conservation

The plant is threatened by forces that degrade its coastline habitat, such as sand mining and competing introduced plant species.

This species is an important food plant for the endangered Myrtle's silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene myrtleae), which eats its nectar.[1]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, August 18, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.