Saint Johns / Yettem Area
Map SatelliteThough most of this area is cultivated there are a few sites where endemic marshland is found and riparian plants still grow, including some adapted to alkaline sinks. At least four rare plants are found in this area: the native grasses, Tuctoria greenei and Orcuttia californica, the spurge, Chamaesyce hooveri, and Eriastrum hooveri.
Among the marshland plants present are the giant yarrow, Achillea gigantea, Cyperus erythrorhizos, Polygonum lapathifolium, and the bulrush Scirpus acutus.
Riparian vegetation includes the willow Salix gooddingii var. variabilis, curly dock, Rumex violascens, and Sagittaria longiloba.
Two species of kangaroo rat, Dipodomys heermanni tularensis and Dipodomys nitratoides nitratoides, are found in the area, as is the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana.
This area includes portions of the flood channels of three watercourses, Cottonwood and Elbo Creeks and Saint John's River. The soil is alkaline.
Integrity: Chiefly agriculture. Natural runoff has been diverted and levees constructed, thus altering the area.
Use: Private
May 1975
Inventory of California Natural Areas
Revision © 2009 Steven Louis Hartman