Cryptantha hooveri I.M.Johnst. (1937:23)
Hoover’s cryptantha
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Missing (NatureServe, 2026) or Extinct (Rejmánek, 2018; Smith, 2018; Knapp et al., 2020, 2021; Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025)
Last record: 1939 (Rejmánek, 2018; Knapp et al., 2021; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025; NatureServe, 2026)
This species has been identified as one of the 50 best candidates for de-extinction, ranking 48/50 (Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022).
Distribution & Habitat
Central Valley (Contra Costa, Madera & Stanislaus counties), California, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Albani Rocchetti, Giulia, Carta, Angelino, Mondoni, Andrea, Godefroid, Sandrine, Davis, Charles C., Caneva, Giulia, Albrecht, Matthew A., Alvarado, Karla, Bijmoer, Roxali, Borosova, Renata, Bräuchler, Christian, Breman, Elinor, Briggs, Marie, Buord, Stephane, Cave, Lynette H., Da Silva, Nílber Gonçalves, Davey, Alexandra H., Davies, Rachael M., Dickie, John B., Fabillo, Melodina, Fleischmann, Andreas, Franks, Andrew, Hall, Geoffrey, Kantvilas, Gintaras, Klak, Cornelia, Liu, Udayangani, Medina, Leopoldo, Reinhammar, Lars Gunnar, Sebola, Ramagwai J., Schönberger, Ines, Sweeney, Patrick, Voglmayr, Hermann, White, Adam, Wieringa, Jan J., Zippel, Elke Zippel and Abeli, Thomas. (2022). Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria. Nature Plants 8: 1385-1393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01296-7 [Supplementary Tables S1-S6]
Baldwin, B. B., Goldman, D. H., Keil, D. J., Patterson, R., Rosatti, T. and Wilken, D. (2012). The Jepson Manual, Vascular Plants of California second edition. Univ. California Press. 1568 pp.
California Native Plant Society (CNPS). (2001). Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California (sixth edition). Rare Plant Scientific Advisory Committee, David P. Tibor, Convening Editor. California Native Plant Society. Sacramento, CA. x + 388pp.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2025). Plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 207(3): 183-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae045 [Appendix S1]
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Hickman, J. C. (ed.). (1993). The Jepson manual: Higher plants of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. xvii + 1400 pp.
Kartesz, J. T. (1994). A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Gluesenkamp, Daniel and Kennedy, Kathryn. (2020). Regional records improve data quality in determining plant extinction rates. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4: 512-514. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1146-1
Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Kennedy, Kathryn, Heidel, Bonnie and Gluesenkamp, Daniel. (2021). Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada. Conservation Biology 35(1): 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621 [Supporting Information (Appendix S1)]
Le Roux, Johannes J., Hui, C., Castillo, M. L., Iriondo, J. M., Keet, J.-H., Khapugin, A. A., Médail, F., Rejmánek, M., Theron, G. Yannelli, F. A. and Hirsch, H. (2019). Recent Anthropogenic Plant Extinctions Differ in Biodiversity Hotspots and Coldspots. Current Biology 29(17): 2912-2918.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.063
Munz, P.A., with D.D. Keck. (1959). A California flora. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 1681 pp.
Munz, P. and Keck, D. (1963). A California Flora. University of California Press. 1681 pp.
NatureServe. (2026). Cryptantha hooveri: Hoover's Cryptantha. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed on 21 August 2026]
POWO. (2024). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 13 October 2024]
Rejmánek, Marcel. (2018). Vascular plant extinctions in California: A critical assessment. Diversity and Distributions 24(1): 129-136. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12665
Smith, James P., jnr. (2018). California vascular plants: are some of them still out there? Botanical Studies 74: 1-4.
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