Search / Plant Profile / Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii

Plant Profile

San Diego Button-celery (Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii)

This shot shows the stems of this biennial. Photo Credit: Dylan Hannon

Global Rank: T1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Apiaceae
State: CA
Nature Serve ID: 148040
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 04/04/1991

Description:

San Diego button celery is an annual herb from the parsley family and is often recognized by its low spreading appearance and greenish flowers. It once occurred in many vernal pool systems, but by the late 1980's 23% of vernal pool systems had been destroyed, leaving remaining populations impoverished. Vernal pools, one of California's most threatened habitats, are natural depressions that fill with water during the winter and spring and dry up during the summer. Plants that live in the vernal pool ecosystem are specifically adapted to their ephemeral pool environment. The pools are too wet in winter for upland plants and too dry in summer for aquatic plants. Like other vernal pool plant species, Eryngium aristulatum germinates during the flooding period and blooms as the pools dries.

Where is San Diego Button-celery (Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Found in vernal pool systems and salt marshes.San Diego button-celery (Eryngium aristulatum) is associated with other endangered Vernal Pool species including, Burke's goldfields (Lasthenia burkei, California Orcutt grass (Orcuttia californica), San Diego mesa mint (Pogogyne abramsii) and Sebastopol Meadowfoam (Limnanthes vinculans).

Distribution:

Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County.

States & Provinces:

San Diego Button-celery can be found in California

Which CPC Partners conserve San Diego Button-celery (Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii)?

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 12/12/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Joe Davitt

12/20/2023

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance made a seed collection in July of 2022 which consists of 54 maternal lines. The organization now houses 6 maternal line seed collections in the Native Plant Gene Bank from vernal pool complexes throughout San Diego County.

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, San Diego Zoo Global holds 5 accessions of Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 180181 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 14 accessions of Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 206126 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, San Diego Zoo Global has collected 5 seed accessions of Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii from 5 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 348 maternal plants

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden has collected 14 seed accessions of Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii from 9 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 61 maternal plants

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Eryngium aristulatum var. parishii is a vernal pool species occuring in California and extending south into Baja California, Mexico. Vernal pool habitat loss is the greatest threat to this species in California, followed by secondary threats: dumping, trampling, runoff, vehicle traffic and nonnative species. The threats to this species in Mexico are not known, however, given the urbanization occurring in Baja California, Mexico habitat loss there is probable.

01/01/2010

Threats include urban and agricultural development, alteration of drainage patterns, mowing and livestock grazing, off-road vehicles, trash dumping, and competition from weedy, non-native plants.

01/01/2010

This species is known only from 4 populations on the Santa Rosa Plateau containing fewer then 1,000 individuals. (Dudeck and Associates Inc. 1999)

01/01/2010

In 1993, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden created 30 small vernal pools as part of their plant display as well as part of a long term gene flow study by the Garden's Research Department and Endangered Species Program. Artificial vernal pools have also been created by the University of California's Botanic Garden. Because these pools require careful tending it has been concluded that recreated pools are not self-sustaining and therefore not a viable option to replace the loss of naturally occurring vernal pools.

01/01/2010

Under the terms of a settlement agreement approved Monday, July 23, 2001 by the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will map critical habitat for 15 endangered and threatened species that are dependent on vernal pool wetlands in California. The critical habitat designation will add protection to California's remaining vernal pool habitat. All four remaining populations and substantial habitat that may support this species are preserved within the Santa Rosa Plateau Preserve. (Dudeck and Associates Inc. 1999)

01/01/2010

Population monitoring, reproductive/seed biology and general ecology of vernal pool dynamics would aid in the conservation of this and associated species.