Ancistrocarphus keilii

Ancistrocarphus keilii is a rare species of flowering plant known by the common name Santa Ynez groundstar. It is endemic to Santa Barbara County, California, where it is known only from three populations in the Santa Ynez River drainage. There were 180 individuals estimated in existence, until 2023, when a few thousand bloomed. The plant was described to science in 2004. Ancistrocarphus keilii grows in sandy soils in chaparral habitat adjacent to oak woodlands. The plant is considered to be vulnerable to extinction because of its rarity, its populations are located in habitat that is likely to be disturbed or developed, and because it apparently has no effective method of biological dispersal. The plant was photographed for the first time (and was collected for the first time for deposit in herbaria) at a protected site on Vandenberg Space Force Base, in cooperation with the staff botanist....read more on Wikipedia.