Article Tools

A recently discovered plant in far western Santa Barbara County is now a candidate for the endangered species list: the Vandenberg monkeyflower, or Mimulus fremontii var. vandenbergensis, an annual herb whose green stalks and bright yellow flowers with red markings only grow on the sandy dunescape of Burton Mesa between Lompoc and Santa Maria. The more common sticky bush monkeyflower, which is easily spotted in the county’s chaparral, has orange flowers while the also common Fremont monkeyflower’s are bright red.

“It’s what we call a really narrow endemic,” said U.S. Fish & Wildlife biologist Mark Elvin, a botany expert who’s worked extensively on the plant that was only officially discovered in 2005. “It’s really a fascinating plant.”

While its historic range was a bit larger, today it only grows in seven sites located along the southern edge of Burton Mesa, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in the west to La Purisima State Historic Park in the east. Altogether, the species’ entire ecosystem is about five-by-two miles. Over the years, residential development, road building, military exercises, oil and gas drilling, wildfire-fighting, and other human impacts have disturbed much of the region, but those activities paved the way for a much worse villain: nonnative invasive species such as veldt grass and brome grass, which are quick to take over in disturbed areas, leaving the Vandenberg monkeyflower out to dry.

Despite its rarity and the fact that threats are considered imminent, being named as a candidate for the endangered species list won’t do much other than raise awareness. This annual list is put out by the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) in hopes that knowledge of a species’ status will alert landowners and resource managers to be aware of its existence and work toward conservation. That way, FWS spokeswoman Lois Grunwald explained, there might be “enough conservation work in the interim to preclude the need to list” the Vandenberg monkeyflower, which was listed as a level three priority on a scale of one to 12, with one being the highest.

Even if the plant was to be listed, however, it wouldn’t change much, as plants do not enjoy the same Endangered Species Act protections as animals. “There’s no prohibition of take of unlisted plants,” said Grunwald, but she explained that any project run by or paid for by the federal government does have to consult with FWS on the plant. And the FWS does take flora seriously. “Plants are important because they are foundations of health ecosystems,” she explained. “When pieces become endangered, it’s an indicator that the health of the ecosystem is in danger and beginning to unravel. We’ve estimated that losing one plant can trigger the loss of 30 other insect or animal species.”

Though there haven’t been enough studies to know about which parts of the ecosystem rely on the Vandenberg monkeyflower, Elvin the botanist did see some solitary bees and native ants visiting the flowers during his work. He also noted that it seemed to have larger flowers than other plants in the ecosystem, which probably means that monkeyflower’s nectar is a favorite of bird and insect species. He’d like to learn more about every part of the plant, in fact. “The seeds of the plant are really small and really light, lighter than the sand grains where it occurs,” he said. “It would be great to radio-tag a seed and follow it. I would love to do that kind of stuff, but we don’t have the technology.”

Tech failings aside, Elvin explained that, while many plant species are rapidly going extinct worldwide — including Gambel’s watercress, a species only known to exist inside Vandenberg AFB that Elvin predicts will go extinct sometime soon — botanists in California are also discovering more plant species all the time, with more than 200 officially named in just the past five years alone. “It’s really quite a dynamic time in botany right now,” said Elvin.

And thanks to the Vandenberg monkeyflower, Santa Barbara County certainly has a page in that growing book.

Comments

I could look this up, but by writing that the plant variety vandenbergensis was "officially discovered" does that mean no one knew this population was there or does that mean the population previously was considered to be a different, more common variety of this species?

To wonkify it, this is the difference between "discovered" and "described". It gets tricky as a merely different flower color (especially yellow as simply a pale version of red) may not be a sufficiently distinct genetic difference to be classified as a separate variety.

Just remember that things aren't necessarily endangered b/c of human influences--even Charles Darwin, recognized many endangered species in the purest of environments and he lived and died before the industrial revolution was in full-swing.Nature just has a way of "cleaning out its closets" every so often.

I think it is more survival of the fittest than closet cleaning. And an impressive number of species survived and prospered, filling some of the most hostile niches, before man started decimating them.

I moi-self discovered that the red-flowered "variety" exists inside the range of Vandenberg Monkeyflower, specifically at La Purisima Mission State Historic Park. The two forms grow in close proximity. Apparently, they do not interbreed, which qualifies the Vandenberg form as a distinct species by Darwinian definition. However, modern botanists swear by "time-honored genetic distances," and so recently-evolved full species don't rank by test-tube reckoning. I emailed 3 botanists about this point, and their answers (for which I thank them) seemed to indicate that they didn't quite know what I was yammering about. Oh, well.

One swath of Vandenberg Monkeyflower grows on a slope about 50 yards below a patch of the red variety on a ridgetop. The VMs start flowering later and continue to produce flowers while all the red flowers on the ridgetop are withering away. The VM plants are bigger, with more and bigger flowers. The red population on the ridgetop has maybe 5% plants with yellow flowers, suggesting a genetic source for evolution of VM. But the yellow flowers on the ridgetop have red markings unlike the red markings down the hill.

The threat to Vandenberg Monkeyflower is extreme, and comes in the form of Saharan Mustard, which has reached the eastern fenceline of Purisima and exploded in dense growth on the loose sand there. This is truly the Weed From Heck, because small plants produce seed & drop it in February, so you can't just wait for all the little ones to die and then pluck the survivng big ones later.

California State Parks have lifted not one finger to address the problem. It's going to take a yearly tradition of patrols and plucking parties (early February) by Boy Scouts or some other voluntary organization. But I am no organizer, and have leprously espoused taboo politics. So, someone else will have to take the lead, and d***ed soon! Once Saharan Mustard has made a run, it'll be too late.

Saharan Mustard is also at the edge of Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve, at the upper end of Saint Andrews Way in Vandenberg Village Country Club. That infestation is small and confined. Eradication is doable there. But I'm just one guy, y'all!

Please express your concern to State Parks, at the very least. Then they'll know they're being watched.

Oh, yeah. If you go out to pluck Saharan Mustard, don't dispose of the plants in Green Waste or even Garbage. The seeds will just be broadcast that way. The seeds survive submersion in water. But if you fill your weed-packed barrel with water, the seeds should sprout and die by early spring. It'll stink in the meantime, though.

Regarding "discovery," the fact that a species is there somewhere and may be known to locals doesn't mean that scientificoes gotta be tripping over it too. In 2005, Condor Environmental published Ecosystem Characterization of La Purisima Mission State Historical Park, summarizing previous findings and their own at this botanically famous locale. But in 2005 I moved to Lompoc and subsequently identified over 70 plant species not listed in the report, mostly native species. Even a long ridgeline punctuated with 20 naturally occurring Bishop Pines had gone unnoticed. It takes a village idiot in residence! All else is mere sampling. Anyway, point is that any good-sized tract of natural real estate harbors unreported species.

I don't know when Vandenberg Monkeyflower was described, but it could easily have been overlooked by science until quite recently, no problem.

Thanks, tabatha! Unfortunately, since I took no specimens, my finds are "local knowledge," not authenticated facts. Anyway, there were few shockers... it's just that no one had put in enough time to find the plants I found. Purisima Mission is a big piece of real estate, and many of the plants that grow there are small and spottily distributed. It's been a fun Easter Egg Hunt!