PLANT CONFUSES EXPERTS AREA SUNFLOWER ANALYZED.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - What experts believed was an extinct flower found this fall along the banks of the Santa Clara River could be a common sunflower found in eastern California and Colorado.

Scientists are exploring whether a 10- to 12-foot-high sunflower plant found on the Newhall Ranch site in September is the extinct Los Angeles sunflower, last seen more than 60 years ago, or if it's one of two others in the giant sunflower family.

``It's very confusing to me,'' said Andrew Sanders, a museum scientist of the University of California at Riverside who studied the flower after it was discovered in September. ``I was pretty sure we had (the Los Angeles sunflower), but I'm not sure anymore.''

In dispute is the subspecies of the flower that doesn't distinctly separate itself from others, Sanders explained.

University of California at Berkeley officials had identified the plant as the Helianthus parishii, called the Los Angeles sunflower, which grows up to 15 feet high and carries a dense wool underneath its leaf.

But after taking a closer look, experts began to question that identification because the dense wool was not present. They started to examine two other similar subspecies.

Those include the Helianthus nuttallii, a more common sunflower that grows in higher elevations of the San Bernardino and Rocky Mountain regions, that does not have as much hair on its leaves. The other is the californicus(), which has the same characteristics as the other two plants but contains a different number of chromosomes.

``There are things that argue for it being the Los Angeles sunflower and there are things that argue (against.) We do not know,'' Sanders said ``We are waiting for some facts. Once we get them, we should be able to eliminate them.

``Whatever it is, it's not where it's suppose to be,'' he added. ``It's a range extension from some place. It's really a muddy mess.''

A Newhall Land and Farming Company biologist conducting plant surveys in September discovered the flower in a riparian habitat on the proposed Newhall Ranch site, south of state Highway 126 and west of the Golden State (5) Freeway.

The company sent the species to University of California at Berkeley to verify if it was the rare Los Angeles sunflower. Newhall Land then announced it planned to petition the Department of Fish and Game to list the rare flower on its endangered and threatened plants list.

John Strother, a botanist who verified the plant for Newhall Land, refused to comment about the finding or dispute.

Marlee Lauffer, Newhall Land spokeswoman, said the company is waiting for the botanists to conclude their studies and discussions before deciding what step to take next.

But whether it is or isn't the flower once thought extinct doesn't affect the company's plan to build 21,600 homes in the area because the plant was found in the Santa Clara River - a place where development wouldn't occur.

``It's in the river corridor where it will be protected,'' she said. ``It would be nice to put closure on the issue.''

Loren Rieseberg, a professor of biology at Indiana University who spent several years in the early 1990s searching Los Angeles County for the flower, studied the specimen's leaves for authenticity and said he believes the mystery is already solved.

``This is not the unique form that we should all be excited about,'' he said. ``To me, I would be really excited if they found this wooly form. I don't think it's any different than the common species.''

Rieseberg and other biologists at Indiana University believe it's the subspecies nuttallii. However, an argument could be made that it really is the rare flower, based on a loose description of the species written in a monograph of the North America sunflower.

Charlie Heiser, a retired biology professor at Indiana University who also studied the flower's authenticity, wrote the reference guide that experts across the nation use to determine a species or subspecies. But his description of the Los Angeles sunflower is general and does not offer distinguishing marks between the other species.

The only method to determine if this flower is the extinct sunflower involves thousands of dollars and hours of testing DNA and chromosomes, experts said.

Rieseberg is willing to test the flower's genetics to determine its subspecies, but he estimates the cost of the procedure is $50,000.

Newhall Land hasn't been asked about the testing and Lauffer couldn't comment on whether the company would pay for the studies.

Regardless of the outcome, Rieseberg called the find exciting.

``I still think it's a wonderful,'' he said. ``It's still nice to have the giant form in Southern California.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(color in SAC edition only) This sunflower was thought to be one believed to be extinct but now experts are not sure.

(2 -- ran in SAC edition only) Experts are analyzing whether this sunflower is one previously believed to be extinct.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer