By request…a list of the rare biota of Santa Cruz County’s North Coast. The sheer number of rare biota is both a gift and a challenge for us.
How many species do you need to live?
Plants
| Federally or State protected plant species on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast | ||
| Common name
Status |
Latin name | Notes |
| Ben Lomond spineflower
Federally endangered |
Chorizanthe pungens var. hartwegii | Mostly on inland sands, but also on some shallow soils in the Major’s Creek drainage |
| San Francisco popcornflower
State endangered |
Plagiobothrys diffusus | Moist meadows
|
| Santa Cruz cypress
Federally threatened |
Hesperocyparis abramsiana | Mostly on inland sands, but also recently found in the Scotts Creek watershed; outliers expected elsewhere |
| Santa Cruz wallflower
Federally endangered |
Erysimum teretifolium | On inland sands |
| Robust spineflower
Federally endangered |
Chorizanthe robusta var. robusta | |
| White-rayed Pentachaeta
Federally and State endangered |
Pentachaeta bellidiflora | |
The following table uses California Rare Plant Ranks, as follow:
| California Rare Plant Rank | Description of rarity |
| 1B | Plants Rare, Threatened, or Endangered in California and Elsewhere
|
| 2B | Plants Rare, Threatened, or Endangered in California, But More Common Elsewhere |
| 3 | Plants About Which More Information is Needed – A Review List
|
| 4 | Plants of Limited Distribution – A Watch List
|
| Biologically imperiled plant species on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast | ||
| Common name
Status |
Latin name | Notes |
| Ben Lomond buckwheat
CRPR 1B |
Eriogonum nudum var. decurrens | On inland sands |
| Bent-flowered fiddleneck
CRPR 1B |
Amsinckia lunaris | |
| Blasdale’s bent grass
CRPR 1B |
Agrostis blasdalei | |
| Bonny doon Manzanita
CRPR 1B |
Arctostaphylos silvicola | Mostly on inland sands |
| Brewer’s Calandrinia
CRPR 4 |
Calandrinia breweri | |
| California bottlebrush grass
CRPR 4 |
Elymus californicus
|
Only a couple of populations in our county |
| California falselupine
CRPR 1B |
Thermopsis macrophylla | Coastal prairie |
| Choris’s popcorn flower
CRPR 1B
|
Plagiobothrys chorisianus var. chorisianus | Moist meadows, scrub |
| Dylan’s leptosiphon | Leptosiphon ‘dylanae’ | An undescribed species only in Bonny Doon, possibly extinct in the wild |
| Gairdner’s yampah
CRPR 4 |
Perideridia gairdneri ssp. gairdneri | Moist meadows |
| Harlequin lotus
CRPR 4 |
Hosackia gracilis | Moist meadows |
| Hoffmann’s snakeroot
CRPR 4 |
Sanicula hoffmannii | |
| Johnny nip
CRPR 4 |
Castilleja ambigua ssp. ambigua | Moist meadows |
| Large flowered star tulip
CRPR 4 |
Calochortus uniflorus | Moist meadows |
| Marsh silverpuffs
CRPR 1B |
Microseris paludosa | Moist meadows |
| Marsh zigadenus
CRPR 4 |
Toxicoscordion fontanum | Only one population known in our county |
| Michael’s rein orchid
CRPR 4 |
Piperia michaelii | |
| Mt. diablo cottonweed
CRPR 3 |
Micropus amphibolus | |
| Ohlone Manzanita
CRPR 1B |
Arctostaphylos ohloneana | Fewer than a few dozen plants exist |
| Pinus radiata
CRPR 1B |
Monterey pine | North Coast includes the Año Nuevo population one of a handful of wild stands; genetically distinct |
| Point Reyes horkelia
CRPR 1B |
Horkelia marinensis | Moist meadows |
| San francisco blue eyed mary
CRPR 1B |
Collinsia multicolor | Swanton area |
| San francisco campion
CRPR 1B |
Silene verecunda subs. verecunda | |
| San Francisco wallflower
CRPR 4 |
Erysimum franciscanum | Coastal dunes |
| Santa cruz clover
CRPR 1B |
Trifolium buckwestiorum | |
| Santa Cruz County monkeyflower
CRPR 4 |
Mimulus rattanii ssp. decurtatus | |
| Santa Cruz Manzanita
CRPR 1B |
Arctostaphylos andersonii | Shaded areas |
| Santa cruz microseris
CRPR 1B |
Stebbinsoseris decipiens | |
| Santa Cruz Mountains beardtongue
CRPR 1B |
Penstemon rattanii var. kleei | |
| Schreiber’s Manzanita
CRPR 1B |
Arctostaphylos glutinosa | |
| Vanilla grass
CRPR 2 |
Hierochloe odorata | Forest understory |
Animals
| Federally or State protected animal species on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast | ||
| Name
Status |
Latin name | Notes |
| American badger
State Species of Special Concern |
Taxidea taxus | |
| Bald eagle
State endangered |
Haliaeetus leucocephalus | |
| California red-legged frog
Federally threatened |
Rana draytonii | Breeds in ponds, but uses large areas for movement/summer refugia |
| Central Coast population
Coho Salmon Federally endangered State endangered |
Oncorhynchus kisutch | Returned for first time in years in 2015 to North Coast streams. |
| Central Coast population Steelhead Trout
Federally threatened |
Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus | |
| Golden eagle
State Fully Protected |
Aquila chrysaetos | |
| Grasshopper sparrow
State Species of Special Concern |
Ammodramus savannarum | |
| Mount Hermon June beetle
Federally endangered |
Polyphylla barbata | inland sands |
| Northern harrier
State Species of Special Concern |
Circus cyaneus | |
| Northern spotted owl
Federal candidate |
Strix occidentalis caurina | |
| Ohlone tiger beetle
Federally endangered |
Cicindela ohlone | |
| Peregrin falcon
Federally threatened |
Falco peregrines
|
|
| Ring tailed cat
State Fully Protected |
Bassariscus astutus | |
| San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat
State Species of Special Concern |
Neotoma fuscipes annectens | |
| Southwestern pond turtle
State Species of Special Concern |
Actinemys marmorata pallida | Bask in ponds, nest in adjoining grasslands
|
| Tidewater goby
Federally endangered |
Eucyclogobius newberryi | In brackish lagoons |
| Tricolored blackbird
State Species of Special Concern |
Agelaius tricolor | Listing petition in process |
| Western burrowing owl
State Species of Special Concern |
Athene cunicularia | We have only wintering birds left- they nest inland. |
| White tailed kite
State Fully Protected |
Elanus leucurus | |
| Biologically imperiled animal species on Santa Cruz County’s North Coast
|
||
| Common name | Latin name | Notes |
| Ben Lomond rain beetle | ||
| Doloff’s cave spider | Meta dolloff | Caves |
| Empire amphipod | Stygobromus mackenziei | Caves |
| Empire isopod | Calasellus n. sp | Caves, undescribed |
| Empire pseudoscorpion | Fissilicreagris imperialis | Blind, cave adapted |
| Empire roothopper | Cixius n. sp | Caves, undescribed |
| Laguna cave cricket | In one cave, only, undescribed | |
| Puma
|
Puma concolor | Not clear if Santa Cruz mountains population is viable in the long term |
| Santa Cruz black salamander | Aneides flavipunctatus niger | Only a very few observations |
| Santa Cruz kangaroo rat | Dipodomys venustus venustus | Only viable population potentially at Henry Cowell- extinct in Bonny Doon? |
| Santa Cruz pseudoscorpion | Neochthonius imperialis | Blind, cave adapted |
| Santa Cruz rain beetle | Pleocoma conjugens conjugens | |
Habitats
Coastal Commission protected habitats – “Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas” (ESHA)
- Coastal scrub/rocky outcrops
- Coastal prairie
- Wetlands
- Shreve oak forests
- Maritime chaparral
- Riparian habitats
Grey Hayes 
and the effect of the Cement Redwood National Monument will be???
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