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Holmgrenanthe
Holmgrenanthe petrophila (rocklady, formerly Maurandya petrophila) is a rare perennial desert plant in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae), and the sole species of the genus Holmgrenanthe. It forms low mats of branched stems growing from a woody base. The leaves have small spines along their edges. The solitary yellow flowers are tubular with five free lobes at the end, the upper two pointing backwards, the lower three projecting forwards. The species is known only from about ten locations, most in the Titus Canyon and the adjacent Fall Canyon, all within the Californian section of Death Valley National Park. It grows in limestone crevices on the canyon walls, often on the north face.
After the species was first discovered in Titus Canyon, further plants were found in the adjacent Fall Canyon. It is known only from about ten locations, mostly in these two canyons, all within the Californian section of Death Valley National Park. It grows in limestone crevices on the canyon walls, often on the north face, in areas dominated by creosote bush scrub. Elisens suggested that Holmgrenanthe petrophila might be a "paleoendemic", originally having a much larger range, but now confined to more sheltered and moister microhabitats in desert canyons as a consequence of a warming and drying trend 11,000–8,000 years ago.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Holmgrenanthe by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
