Ojai Area Rare and Endangered Plants
Round Leaved Boykinia
Boykinia rotundifolia Photo: Rick Burgess This herbaceous perennial with minute white flowers is found along streams in riparian woodland. In the Ojai area, it can be found along Sisar Creek. It is threatened by floods and drying climate. 
Small-flowered Morning Glory
Convolvulus simulans Photo: Rick Burgess This small annual with white flowers needs clay soil and has been found in the vicinity of Lake Casitas. Threatened by development and drying climate. 
Mesa Horkelia
Horkelia cuneata var. puberula Photo: Rick Burgess This small matted shrub can be found on Krotona Hill and in the Miramonte area. Threatened by development and drying climate. 
Pitcher Sage
Lepechinia sp. Photo: Rick Burgess This shrub is found sporadically in chaparral. It could be threatened by habitat alterations and reductions in its hummingbird and bumblebee pollinators. Well represented in the Matilija backcountry. 
Ojai Naverretia
Navarretia ojaiensis Photo: David L Magney This spiny little annual is found on vernally moist clay slopes often in oak woodland. Well represented in oak woodland at Villanova School. Threatened by development and drying climate. 
Early Onion
Allium praecox Photo: Rick Burgess Early Onion is restricted to the hills behind Thacher School at the east end of the Ojai Valley. There are no other known locations in Ventura County. Threatened by trail construction and drying climate. 
Kern Brodiaea
Brodeaea terrestris ssp. Kernensis Photo: Rick Burgess Find Kern brodiaea at the Ojai Meadows Preserve and in other open fields about the valley. Threatened by development. 
Club-haired Mariposa Lily
Calochortus clavatus var. clavatus Photo: Rick Burgess This yellow-flowered Mariposa Lily can be seen poking out from chaparral shrubs along Shelf Road and other trails along the south side of Nordhoff Ridge. Threatened due to fuel modification and drying climate. 
Weed’s Mariposa Lily
Calochortus weedii var. vestus Photo: Rick Burgess You might find Weed’s Mariposa Lily in dry chaparral in the Matilija backcountry and sparingly along the south side of Nordhoff Ridge. Grazing and fuel modification threaten it. 
Ocellated Humbolt Lily
Lilium humboldtii ssp ocellatum Photo: Rick Burgess You can reliably find this flamboyant perennial. Look around the Ventura River Preserve, the Matilija backcountry, and at Wheeler Gorge. Threatened by development, horticultural collecting, and drying climate. 
White-leaf Monardella
Monardella hypoleuca ssp. hypoleuca Photo: Bryant Baker White-leaf Monardella can usually be seen in the oak woodland on the Wills Canyon Trail in the Ventura River Preserve. It is vulnerable to trail widening, and a drying climate. |
Valley Tassels
Castilleja attenuate Photo: Rick Burgess An inhabitant of vernal meadows and mesic grasslands, this plant is especially vulnerable to drought. The attractive little white-flowered annual was last noted in the Ojai Valley in 1945. Threatened by our drying climate. 
Southern California Black Walnut
Juglans californica Photo: Timothy Teague There are great examples of walnut woodland on the north face of Sulphur Mountain. Threatened by development and increased fire frequency. 
Pale Yellow Layia
Layia heterotricha Photo: Rick Burgess Look for this attractive yellow-flowered annual in the Los Padres National Forest just north of Ojai along Hwy 33. Threatened by drying climate and road widening. 
Small-flowered Meconella
Meconella denticulata Photo: Rick Burgess A diminutive white-flowered annual, it can be found on cool, shaded, north-facing mossy slopes in oak woodland. You can find it at Wheeler Gorge and it probably occurs elsewhere. Threatened by drying climate. 
Fish’s Milkwort
Polygala cornuta var. fishiae Photo: David L Magney The strange pink flowers on this shrub resemble pea flowers. It can be found at Foster Park, Matilija Canyon, and Sulphur Mountain. Threatened by habitat modification. 
Catalina Mariposa Lily
Calochortus catalinae Photo: Rick Burgess Catalina Mariposa Lily is found in heavy soils of grassland in sage scrub and chaparral. While it is still relatively common in the Ojai Valley, it is threatened due to habitat loss and invasion of exotic plants. 
Plummer’s Mariposa Lily
Calochortus plummerae Photo: Rick Burgess Probably the least common Mariposa Lily in the Ojai Valley, Plummer’s Mariposa Lily has been noted in the Casitas Pass area. Declining due to development and habitat loss. 
California Satintail
Imperata brevifolia Photo: David L Magney California Satintail inhabits almost inaccessible sulphur springs and seeps near Matilija Lake. It is found nowhere else in Ventura County. It is threatened principally by flooding and drying climate. 
Chaparral Nolina
Nolina cismontane Photo: Rick Burgess There is one population of this plant in the Ojai area. Find it on a southwest-facing slope on the west fork of Santa Ana Creek. In this area, it is vulnerable to landslides, agriculture, and drying climate. |