THERE'S REASON THEY'RE SAVING IT SPINEFLOWER MAY REVEAL MUCH.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - By its looks, it's nothing spectacular.

The dime-sized, gray flower blends into the dry, sandy soil it hugs to spread its limbs. Its star-shaped flowers only bloom in the spring, and its average life span lasts just a short year.

Yet, the endangered San Fernando Valley spineflower, thought extinct since April 1929, has been the center of attention since it was rediscovered more than three years ago.

The small plant garnered so much news that it stood in the way of the massive 21,600-home Newhall Ranch project, and it won a great victory Thursday over the area's largest developer when prosecutors and the Newhall Land and Farming Co. agreed to give it 64 acres of the 12,000-acre project site to live without harm.

Now, state officials can begin studying the flower - last reportedly seen near Castaic - to answer many questions.

``It's an untapped potential,'' said Connie Rutherford, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service botanist.

Because the flower was thought extinct, there is limited information about it and the specific contributions it makes to the ecological system, officials said. Do insects pollinate it? Do small animals feed on it? What does it give to its habitat?

Experts know the flower is a member of the buckwheat family. Within this group, it belongs to a species called chorizanthe, and is only found along the coast of California. It lives in inland soils that are generally dry and sandy and can be found in grasslands. To survive, it needs open habitat.

Its presence varies year to year, according to the weather conditions, Rutherford explained. If there is a rainy spring, then the flower may flourish and live longer. If it's dry, its life span will be shorter.

Some members of the buckwheat family have contributed to agriculture, such as crop research, but so far those studies haven't been conducted for the spineflower, Rutherford said. But she and others concur that, along with other species within its habitat, how the spineflower succeeds is representative of issues occurring in the area, and, without this species, the ramifications are unknown.

``You can pull out parts and pull out parts and never know if it will lead to something more catastrophic,'' Rutherford said. ``One species might be linked to one other species or 100 other species.''

The state Department of Fish and Game is hoping to learn more about the plant when it takes possession of the land, as agreed to Thursday by the prosecutors and the developer.

The land, located on property known as the Grapevine and Airport mesas west of the Golden State Freeway, will be used as a conservation area so officials can study the flower. Newhall Land will be responsible for paying for the land's maintenance and to develop a management plan.

In exchange, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office dropped a misdemeanor charge of illegally altering a stream bed against the company and agreed not to file any new criminal or civil complaints regarding the issue, officials said. Without the agreement, the company faced a $1,000 fine.

Fish and Game had originally accused the company of knowingly destroying the spineflower, but prosecutors declined to file charges, citing a lapsed statute of limitations.

In the end, the state got what it wanted - to save the flower.

Mary Ann Showers, lead botanist with the habitat conversation planning branch of the Fish and Game, said that, while no one knows the spineflower's ecological value, as development devours landscaping, the plant represents a past ecosystem and teaches biologists about the historical landscaping that may no longer be found.

The state and developer will work together on creating a conservation plan, Showers added.

``We are going to closely scrutinize the plant, and there will be research going on,'' she said. ``We want to learn more about the plant, to better preserve it.''