The already rare plant is endangered by many processes, including invasive species, development, sand mining, off-road vehicles and bulldozers, habitat fragmentation, trampling, and pollution, as well as stochastic events.

It is native to the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, a land mass which is intensely developed and urbanized.

[2] The single population known on San Bruno Mountain near Daly City was discovered in 1989 and is threatened by the construction of houses in the immediate vicinity.

[2] The largest population of the plants is in the dunes at the mouth of Lobos Creek in the San Francisco Presidio.

[3] Habitat in the area is infested with non-native species such as ice plant (Carpobrotus sp.