within the carbonera creek watershed is one of the three known maritime coast range ponderosa pine forests, a rare assemblage of vegetation narrowly restricted to sandy, infertile zayante soils formed over santa margarita sandstone. this habitat is only found in coastal santa cruz county and is found in a part of the carbonera creek catchment in the southwestern part of the city of scotts valley on the slopes of mount hermon, extending to the south. the surface soil and subsoil drain very rapidly and do not retain enough water to support local climax species such as coast redwood or douglas fir. the ponderosa pine ("pinus ponderosa") withstands the stresses of this xeric habitat and typifies the open plant community, which also supports rare species of flora such as the bonny doon manzanita (also called the silver-leaved manzanita) ("arctostaphylos silvicola") and the endangered ben lomond wallflower ("erysimum teretifolium"). there are two federally listed endangered species of insects within this sparse forest.