Parish’s Checkerbloom

Parish’s checkerbloom is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family. It is known scientifically as sidalcea hickmanii ssp. Parishii.
A dicot, it is a perennial herb native and endemic to California.
Parish’s checkerbloom grows in the Central Coast Ranges, the Transverse Ranges and parts of the northern coast. There are four subspecies, most of which are separated geographically.
Sidalcea hickmanii ssp. parishii  is relatively rare, and has a disjunct distribution in the Transverse Ranges. It is present from the Santa Ynez Mountains north of Santa Barbara, as well as the San Bernardino Mountains on the inland eastern side of the greater Los Angeles Basin area. It is known to be extant in Strawberry Canyon.
It grows in chaparral, woodlands and open conifer forest, usually at elevations of 3,000 feet to 6,700 feet, producing a rough-haired stem up to three feet tall with a woody caudex at the base. The leaves have wide, fan-shaped blades which have rippled edges or divisions into narrow lobes. The inflorescence is an array of several racemes of flowers. Each has pinkish to purplish petals up to 2.5 centimeters long.
It is threatened by grazing, urbanization, road maintenance
Subspecies include the extremely rare sidalcea hickmanii ssp. Anomala, sidalcea hickmanii ssp. Hickmanii and sidalcea hickmanii ssp. Viridis.
Sidalcea hickmanii ssp. Anomala is also known as the Cuesta Pass checkerbloom, present only from the vicinity of the Hwy. 101 Cuesta Pass in the southern Santa Lucia Mountains, in San Luis Obispo County.
Sidalcea hickmanii ssp. hickmanii – Hickman’s checkerbloom is limited to the Santa Lucia Mountains of Monterey County.
Sidalcea hickmanii ssp. viridis – Marin checkerbloom is known from Marin County and the northern San Francisco Bay Area, several hundred miles from the other subspecies.
From Wikipedia, https://www.calflora.org and the UC Berkeley Jepson Herbarium webpage.

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