Frankenia palmeri is a species of flowering plant in the frankenia family, Frankeniaceae, known by the common name Palmer's seaheath, Palmer's frankenia, or yerba reuma. It is native to the coastline of northwestern Mexico, as well as San Diego County, California, in the United States. It is a plant of sand dunes, beaches, alkali flats, and salt marshes, where it thrives due to its adaptation to saline soils. This is a small, tangling shrub less than a meter tall with spreading stems lined with clusters of knobby, fleshy leaves. Toward the ends of branches flowers appear among the leaf clusters. Each flower has white petals 3 or 4 millimeters long, often washed with pink toward the throat and with pink anthers. The plant is becoming increasingly rare as its habitat on valuable coastal land is consumed for development.California Native Plant Society Rare Plants Profile
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Frankenia palmeri has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens4
Marker genes3
eDNA detections2
Countries1
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcLa★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type904 records
Wild obs. + sensor399
Museum / vouchered505
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO1 852 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy65% within 1 km
≤100 m 156≤1 km 18≤10 km 12>10 km 81
267 georeferenced · 132 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor399
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy82% within 1 km
≤100 m 230≤1 km 10≤10 km 33>10 km 18
291 georeferenced · 214 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence505
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions36 of 47 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
San Diego, US
143
Riverside, US
46
Austin, US
37
ASUlocation not on record
32
Phoenix, US
23
Mexico City, MX
23
Saint Louis, US
21
La Paz, MX
18
Ensenada, MX
17
Calabar, NG
16
Arizona State University Biocollectionslocation not on record
13
Santa Barbara, US
11
Austin, US
9
Los Angeles, US
9
Hermosillo, MX
8
Claremont, US
8
Flagstaff, US
6
Durango, MX
6
EL PASO, US
4
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
4
San Jose, US
4
Kew, GB
3
Davis, US
3
New Mexico State Universitylocation not on record
2
Chapingo, MX
2
Severin-McDaniel Insect Collectionlocation not on record
2
The University of Arizonalocation not on record
2
Bronx, US
2
CASlocation not on record
2
San Juan College School of Science Math & Engineeringlocation not on record
2
Mexico City, MX
2
Tampa, US
1
Northridge, US
1
Long Beach, US
1
Alicante, ES
1
Moscow, US
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Chongqing Museumlocation not on record
1
San Francisco, US
1
San Diego Natural History Museum, Herbariumlocation not on record
1
Henderson, US
1
Wuzhou, CN
1
Philadelphia, US
1
Albuquerque, US
1
Lubbock, US
1
Logan, US
1
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
1
47 institutions · 496 of 505 vouchered records shown · 9 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA2 detections
Where the DNA of Frankenia palmeri was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found2
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 2 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
Estuary/Riparian with Frankenia palmeri, Atr…
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median16.1 °C 14.1–18.1
Seasonal swing summer↔winter7.10 °C
Max temp (day)19.5 °C 18.0–21.0
Min temp (night)12.9 °C 10.5–15.3
Precipitation30.8 mm/mo 17.8–43.8
Air humidity59.9 % 56.7–63.1
Vapour deficit730 Pa 698–763
Cloud cover28.2 % 22.1–34.4
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 2 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.