Sibara filifolia

Sibara filifolia
Santa Cruz Island winged rockcress
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Sibara
Species: S. filifolia
Binomial name
Sibara filifolia
Greene
Synonyms

Arabis filifolia

Sibara filifolia, known the common names Santa Cruz Island winged rockcress[1] or Santa Cruz Island rockcres, is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family. It is endemic to the Channel Islands of California, where it is now known from a few occurrences on San Clemente Island and one population on Catalina Island.[2]

It was once present on Santa Cruz Island, and perhaps other Channel Islands, but these occurrences were extirpated by feral goats and pigs.[3] The plant was feared extinct until small remaining occurrences were discovered in 1986.[4] A 1995 estimate of the total remaining population was 500 individuals.[3] The plant became a federally listed endangered species of the United States in 1997, along with Cercocarpus traskiae and Lithophragma maximum, two other rare Channel Islands plants.[5]

Description

Sibara filifolia is an annual herb producing a hairless, sometimes waxy stem up to around 30 centimeters in maximum height. The leaves are very narrow and almost strandlike, measuring less than a millimeter wide, and growing about 1.5 centimeters long. The flowers each have four spoon-shaped lavender petals a few millimeters long. The fruit is a flattened, elongated silique up to 4 centimeters long containing tiny seeds.

Distribution and habitat

Sibara filifolia grows in the coastal sage scrub of two islands off the coast of southern California.

References

  1. ↑ "Sibara filifolia". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  2. ↑ McGlaughlin, M. E., L. E. Wallace, and K. Helenurm. (2008). Isolation of microsatellite loci from the endangered plant Sibara filifolia (Brassicaceae). Molecular Ecology Resources 8 367-69.
  3. 1 2 Center for Plant Conservation
  4. ↑ California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
  5. ↑ USFWS. Determination of endangered status for three plants from the Channel Islands of California. Federal Register 62:153 August 8, 1997.


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