Oil neststraw facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Oil neststraw |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| (unranked): | |
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| Order: | |
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| Tribe: |
Inuleae
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| Genus: |
Stylocline
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| Species: |
S. citroleum
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| Binomial name | |
| Stylocline citroleum Morefield
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Stylocline citroleum is a special and rare flowering plant. It belongs to the aster family, which includes many well-known flowers like daisies and sunflowers. People often call this plant the oil neststraw.
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Where the Oil Neststraw Lives
This plant is found only in one specific area. It is endemic to Kern County, California, in the United States. This means it naturally grows nowhere else in the world.
Scientists have found about 46 groups of these plants. They grow on and around the Elk Hills Oil Field. These groups are spread out and differ in size. Some experts think they are all part of one big, spread-out group called a metapopulation. A metapopulation is like several small neighborhoods of the same plant that are connected.
The oil neststraw was once found in San Diego County too. However, it is likely that these plants have now disappeared from that area. This is called extirpation.
Scientists have known about this plant for over 100 years. The first official sample, called a type specimen, was collected in 1935. But it wasn't until 1992 that scientists officially described it as a new species.
The Oil Neststraw's Home
The oil neststraw grows in a special type of environment. This area is called the valley saltbush scrub ecosystem. You can find it in sandy, flat areas and clay soils. These places are usually in the San Joaquin Valley.
Many of these areas have been turned into oil fields. This is how the plant got its common name, "oil neststraw." Its scientific name, Stylocline citroleum, also comes from this connection to oil.
The oil neststraw likely started as a hybrid plant. This means it formed from two different parent plants. Its parents are the mountain neststraw (Stylocline gnaphaloides) and the California filago (Filago californica). You will almost always find the oil neststraw growing near one or both of its parent species.
What the Oil Neststraw Looks Like
This plant is an annual herb, which means it lives for only one growing season. It is also quite "inconspicuous," meaning it's hard to notice.
The plant has a grayish stem that trails along the ground. It also forks, or splits, into different directions. This stem usually grows no longer than 13 centimeters (about 5 inches).
Its leaves are also grayish and feel woolly. They are pointed and can grow up to 1.4 centimeters (about half an inch) long.
Its Tiny Flowers
The plant's inflorescence is where its flowers grow. It has small, round flower heads that are only a few millimeters wide. These flower heads have tiny, rough-haired parts called phyllaries. Inside, there are scaly, woolly florets, which are like tiny individual flowers.
It can be very hard to tell the oil neststraw apart from other Stylocline plants. This is because its special features are so tiny that you need a microscope to see them clearly.
