Endemic to San Luis Obispo County, researchers are finding that these rare, purple native flowers, Cammata Canyon amole, have recently started blooming more frequently than ever. (Courtesy of The Nature Conservancy)
At Las Piletas Ranch Preserve in San Luis Obispo County, a surprising botanical discovery may alter the conservation future of a rare purple California wildflower.
Researchers there uncovered a population explosion of the Camatta Canyon amole previously thought to exist in only two known locations, with an estimated 10,000 plants globally.
The scientists identified more than 16,000 amoles just at Las Piletas, according to Scott Butterfield, a lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s land program in California, who helped with the discovery.
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Camatta Canyon amole is endemic to the La Panza Range, located along California’s Central Coast east of the small town of Santa Margarita. The plant typically grows on Mima mounds — slight, dome-shaped rises in the soil common in California grasslands.
The unique soil formations are sometimes referred to as “soil pimples.” These mounds, along with their vernal pools — puddles of water that appear after rainfall, usually during the spring — create rare microhabitats that support unique plant life.
Once thought to number just 10,000 worldwide, the rare Camatta Canyon amole stunned researchers when over 16,000 were found at Las Piletas alone. (Courtesy of The Nature Conservancy)
“At first, we thought they were inside the pools,” Butterfield explained. “But now, we’re seeing they actually thrive on the slopes of the mounds, not in the pool, not at the top, but that in-between space. That’s a really interesting and unexpected result.”
More than 95% of the vernal pool habitat that used to be widespread across the dry, inland regions of California has been lost, primarily to development, said Kristen Nelson, rare plant program manager at California Native Plant Society, a collaborator on the research.
“Protecting a species also means protecting its habitat. And in this case, protecting Camatta Canyon amole means protecting the comparably rare and unique vernal pool habitat in which it occurs,” Nelson said.
This discovery of this bulbous, striking plant comes as Las Piletas launches California’s first virtual fencing pilot project, using GPS-enabled collars on cattle to manage grazing patterns with conservation in mind.
“We’re very interested in grazing to support specific native vegetation,” Butterfield said. “Before we started this pilot, we wanted to know where these rare plants lived.”
This finding, made possible by LIDAR — a high-resolution remote sensing tool that uses lasers to create 3D maps of terrain — enables scientists to detect very subtle changes in topography. This kind of detail helps researchers understand where these plants grow and why, Butterfield said.
The timing of this finding might have been coincidental. After several years of drought, the region experienced a wet year, which was ideal for native wildflowers but unfavorable for the invasive grasses that usually outcompete them.
“We got kind of lucky,” Butterfield said. With such a large and concentrated population of these native flowers, Las Piletas could become a center for species recovery efforts. “If we can collect this seed and grow it in other suitable habitats, we could potentially get this species off the threatened list,” Butterfield said.
As researchers analyze the findings and plan future grazing practices, the hope is not only to protect the Camatta Canyon amole but also to set a new standard for integrating technology, ecology and stewardship.
“We’re going to protect this species and make sure that this species — an important part of overall biodiversity across the ranch and across the state — is going to exist in the future.”
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