Aconitum, also known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, devil's helmet, or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. These herbaceous perennial plants are chiefly native to the mountainous parts of the Northern Hemisphere in North America, Europe, and Asia, growing in the moisture-retentive but well-draining soils of mountain meadows.
Linnaea borealis is a species of flowering plant in the family Caprifoliaceae. Until 2013, it was the only species in the genus Linnaea. It is a boreal to subarctic woodland subshrub, commonly known as twinflower.
The Karner blue is an endangered species of small blue butterfly found in some Great Lakes states, small areas of New Jersey, the Capital District region of New York, and southern New Hampshire in the United States. The butterfly, whose life cycle depends on the wild blue lupine flower, was classified as an endangered species in the United States in 1992.
Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. It is a collection of non-contiguous parcels in the vicinity of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
Discus macclintocki is a species of land snail in the family Discidae known commonly as the Iowa Pleistocene snail and Pleistocene disc. It occurs in Iowa and Illinois in the United States. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Ice Mountain is a mountain ridge and algific talus slope that is part of a 149-acre (60 ha) preserve near the community of North River Mills in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 2012.
Echinacea laevigata, the smooth purple coneflower, is a federally listed threatened species of plant found in the Piedmont of the eastern United States. Most populations are found on roadsides and other open areas with plenty of sunlight, often on calcium- and magnesium- rich soils.
Bixby State Preserve is a nature reserve located in southwestern Clayton County, Iowa, in the midwestern United States. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Edgewood. It is operated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as one of the Iowa state preserves.
Roberts Creek State Preserve is located in rural Clayton County, Iowa, in Wagner Township, near St. Olaf, Iowa, and a few miles north of Elkader, Iowa. Roberts Creek is a tributary of the Turkey River.
The Shenandoah salamander is a small, terrestrial salamander found exclusively in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The Shenandoah salamander inhabits a very small range of land on just three mountain peaks. Due to the small habitat range, interspecies competition, and climate change, the population of the Shenandoah salamander is vulnerable to extinction. Mitigating human effects on the habitat of the species will be essential in attempting to preserve and grow the population.
Algific talus slopes comprise a very rare, fragile ecosystem and habitat initially believed to exist only in the Driftless Area of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and especially, Iowa. More recently, other algific talus slopes have been identified in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. It has been suggested that close comparison with similar sites worldwide may enlarge the distribution, or that the term may become restricted to the flora and fauna characteristic of these zones within the Driftless Area.
The flat-spired three-toothed snail —also known as the Cheat three-toothed snail after the Cheat River in West Virginia—is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Polygyridae.
Aconitum columbianum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names Columbian monkshood or western monkshood.
Lindera melissifolia, common name pondberry or southern spicebush, is a stoloniferous, deciduous, aromatic shrub in the laurel family. This endangered species is native to the southeastern United States, and its demise is associated with habitat loss from extensive drainage of wetlands for agriculture and forestry. Restoration efforts are currently being conducted.
The White Pine Hollow State Forest is a 944-acre (382 ha) forested area in Dubuque County, Iowa. Of the forest, a 712-acre (288 ha) tract is a National Natural Landmark and Iowa State Preserve. The state forest is named after its dominant old-growth tree, the white pine. The grove is said to be the only old-growth patch of white pines still growing in Iowa. The nearest town of any size is Luxemburg.
Conradina verticillata is a flowering shrub in the mint family, found in the Cumberland Plateau. It is also called Conradina montana, Cumberland rosemary or Cumberland false rosemary. It has been classified as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 1991.
Lespedeza leptostachya is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names prairie lespedeza and prairie bush-clover. It occurs in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The flowers are creamy-white to purplish and arranged into a narrow terminal spikes.
Scirpus ancistrochaetus is a rare species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names barbedbristle bulrush and northeastern bulrush. It is native to the northeastern United States from New Hampshire south to Virginia. It used to be found in Quebec but it is now thought to be extirpated there. It was also believed extirpated from the state of New York, but at least one population has been rediscovered in Steuben County in 2010. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its wetland habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Physaria globosa is a rare flowering plant in the mustard family commonly known as globe bladderpod, Short's bladderpod, and Lesquereux's mustard. It is endemic to the United States, where it is limited to Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. It is a rare species throughout its range and in 2014 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule protecting it under the Endangered Species Act.
Chrysosplenium iowense is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name Iowa golden-saxifrage. It is native to North America, where it is "primarily a Canadian species", occurring from the northern Northwest Territories south to British Columbia and east to Manitoba. There are also disjunct, relictual occurrences within the United States, in the Driftless Area of Minnesota and Iowa.
