Many-Flowered Navarretia
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Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office

Species Account

MANY-FLOWERED NAVARRETIA
(Navarretia leucocephala ssp. plieantha)

CLASSIFICATION:Federal Endangered Species (Federal Register 62:33029 pdf; June 18, 1997)

CRITICAL HABITAT:  None designated.

RECOVERY PLAN:  Draft Vernal Pool Ecosystem Recovery Plan (pdf), November 18, 2004.

DESCRIPTION:

Many-flowered navarretia (Navarretia leucocephala ssp. plieantha) is a prostrate annual herb in the phlox family (Polemoniaceae). This plant forms small mats that can range from 2-8 inches wide. The leaves are about 1 inch long, linear and have a few lobes.

The plant flowers in May to June. The flowers are clustered in a head at the end of stems. The head is composed of 20-50 white to blue flowers.

Many-flowered navarretia grows with and can be easily confused with several other navarretias. Among the closely related ones are the endangered few-flowered navarretia (Navarretia leucocephala ssp. pauciflora) and Baker's navarretia (Navarretia leucocephala spp. bakeri), a species of concern . Many-flowered navarretia forms hybrids with few-flowered navarretia. The hybrids do not fit well into any established subspecies. See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description of the various subspecies of Navarretia leucocephala.

DISTRIBUTION:

Many-flowered navarretia is found in dry meadows, along the margins of volcanic ash vernal pools and lakes and in open wet ground in forest openings. Only a few locations of this species are known from Lake and Sonoma counties. The plant grows in a 400 square mile area, at elevations from 1,800 to 2,800 feet.

THREATS:

The primary threats to vernal pool species are activities that result in the direct destruction of the plants and their habitats or hydrologic changes in their vernal pool habitats. Damage or destruction of vernal pool habitat happens quickly and easily due to the extremely crumbly nature of the soil and the dependency of the pool upon an intact durapan or impermeable subsurface soil layer. Attempted drainage of a pool in Lake County containing many-flowered navarretia resulted in the invasion of two competitive weeds, yellow star-thistle (Centaurea solstitialis) and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusa).

Off-highway vehicle use has resulted and continues to result in the destruction of plants and habitat of Navarretia leucocephala ssp. plieantha at four population sites in Lake County. The California Department of Fish and Game has provided fencing at the Loch Lomond site to prevent off-highway vehicle entry into the area.

STATE & CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY STATUS:

This species was listed as endangered by the California Department of Fish and Game in November 1979. The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range).

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

McCarten, N. 1985. A survey of Navarretia pauciflora and Navarretia plieantha (Polemoniaceae): Two rare endemics plant species from the vernal pools of the California North Coast Ranges. Endangered Plant Program, Department of Fish and Game.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. 1997. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Status for Four Plants From Vernal Pools and Mesic Areas in Northern California. Portland, Oregon.

General Information about California Plants

Photo credit: Photo, many-flowered navarretia, © 1998 by Dean Wm. Taylor, Calphoto ID: 0000 0000 0801 0413

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

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