Kelso Creek Monkeyflower (Erythranthe shevockii)

Image of Erythranthe shevockii Photo Credit: Naomi Fraga

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Phrymaceae
State: CA
Nature Serve ID: 149849
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Erythranthe shevockii (Kelson Creek monkeyflower) is a member of the lopseed family (Phrymaceae). It is an annual herb that is only known from within the Kern River drainage in the southern sierra Nevada of Kern County, California. Erythranthe shevockii blooms from March to May and fruits from April to June. Plants of this species have a very distinctive flower that has a maroon-purple upper lip, and a yellow lower lip. In years of ample rain this species can form carpets on the desert floor, but can be difficult to find in drier years.

Where is Kelso Creek Monkeyflower (Erythranthe shevockii) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Erythranthe shevockii is a winter annual with a highly restricted distribution. However, the habitat requirements of M. shevockii do not appear to be stringent. Populations occur in Joshua tree or California juniper woodland habitats ranging from 2700 to 4400 ft (825-1340 m) in elevation (CNDDB 2011). The mean annual precipitation in this region is 20 cm (8 in) (Heckard and Bacigalupi 1986). The substrate is typically loamy, course sands of granitic origin on alluvial fans of dry streamlets (BLM 2004; Heckard and Bacigalupi 1986). However, the Cyrus Canyon population grows on finer soils developed from metasedimentary rocks (Heckard and Bacigalupi 1986).

Distribution:

Mimulus shevockii is edemic to the Kern River drainage in the southern Sierra Nevada, Kern County, California. All but one of the eight extant populations occur along Kelso Creek or in Kelso Valley (

States & Provinces:

Kelso Creek Monkeyflower can be found in California

Which CPC Partners conserve Kelso Creek Monkeyflower (Erythranthe shevockii)?

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

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

09/10/2020

Systematics of Mimulus shevockii and relatives (Naomi Fraga, unpublished) & Pollination Biology of Mimulus shevockii (Naomi Fraga, unpublished)

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 8 accessions of Erythranthe shevockii in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 28640 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, California Botanic Garden has collected 8 seed accessions of Erythranthe shevockii from 5 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together encompass 240 maternal plants

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Endemic to the Kern River drainage in northeastern Kern County, California, at the junction of the southern Sierra Nevada Foothills and the western edge of the Mojave Desert. Approximately 8-9 occurrences are believed extant, 4-5 of which are on BLM land, 3 of which on both BLM and private land, and 1 of which is on private land. Plants on private land are threatened by residential development (subdivisions and mobile homes); at least one occurrence is also threatened by agricultural land conversion and fire suppression activities. Occurrences adjacent to developing areas may experience indirect impacts from activities such as road maintenance. Other threats include off-road vehicle use and competition from non-native species.