Munzothamnus blairii

Munzothmanus blairii, San Clemente Island

Munzothamnus blairii , San Clemente Island endemic. Munzothamnus is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the daisy family containing the single species Munzothamnus blairii, which is known by the common name Blair's wirelettuce, or Blair's munzothamnus. It grows along steep, rocky cliff sides and canyons on the island. It is a shrub producing a fleshy, woolly stem usually over a meter in height, often approaching two meters. Leaves occur in tufts at the ends of the stem branches. They are up to 15 centimeters long, oblong in shape, and sometimes very shallowly lobed. They are woolly when new but lose their hairs and become shiny green with age. The inflorescence is a large array of up to 35 flower heads. Each head has a cylindrical base under a centimeter long and contains 9 to 12 light lavender or pinkish flowers. Each flower is a ray floret with an erect tube and a strap-shaped ligule with a toothed tip. The ligule is just under a centimeter long. The fruit is a cylindrical, ribbed achene with a white pappus.

Like many Channel Islands endemics, this plant was reduced to rarity by the presence of feral goats on the islands; the goats have been removed.

The species was named for Erve Blair, San Clemente Island rancher.

Island Collections~

ISLAND	COLLECTOR	INSTITUTION	DATE	NUMBER	SPECIMEN
San Clemente Island	Nell Murbarger	UC	May 1936	UC-557745	Munzothamnus blairii	Plants