Southern Rubber Boa
Charina umbratica
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- C. umbratica – San Bernardino Co, CA – photo by Kent VanSooy
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- C. umbratica – San Bernardino Co, CA – photo by Steve Bledsoe
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- Map by Steve Bledsoe, SWCHR
DISTRIBUTION: In our region, Charina umbratica occurs in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountain ranges of Southern California.
LEGAL STATUS: Charina umbratica is protected in California throughout its entire range. The Rubber Boas that occur in the southern Sierra Nevada, the Tehachapi Mountains, and on Mt. Pinos, Mt. Abel, Mt. Alamo, and Frazier Mountain are protected as C. umbratica by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, even though that population’s species status is uncertain.
MEANING OF SCIENTIFIC NAME: Charina umbratica (Klauber – 1943)
Genus: Charina, Greek – charis = graceful, delightful, kind
Species: umbratica, Latin- umbraticus = belonging to shade, belonging to seclusion
Ref. Ellen Beltz 2006
Ref. E. Jeager 1962