Eriogonum gypsophilum

Last updated

Eriogonum gypsophilum
Eriogonum gypsophilum - Flickr - aspidoscelis.jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Polygonaceae
Genus: Eriogonum
Species:
E. gypsophilum
Binomial name
Eriogonum gypsophilum

Eriogonum gypsophilum is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common names Seven River Hills buckwheat and gypsum wild buckwheat. It is endemic to the state of New Mexico in the United States, where it is known from only three sites in Eddy County. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is limited to a specific type of soil which is high in gypsum. [1] The plant has been federally listed as a threatened species of the United States since 1981. [5]

Contents

Habitat and range

This rare plant can be found at three locations in Eddy County, New Mexico: the Seven River Hills, the Black River, and the Ben Slaughter Draw, a small, sloping valley. [4] [6] The plant only grows on gypsum substrates, including outcrops of gypsum rock and areas with gypsum soils. There are few other plants in this barren, rocky habitat, except for other gypsophiles. [1] Plants that grow with the buckwheat on this nearly pure gypsum substrate include Tiquilia hispidissima , Mentzelia humilis , and Anulocaulis leiosolenus . [7] This area is within the Chihuahuan Desert and surrounding habitat includes creosote scrub. [4] [2]

Description

This plant is a perennial herb which usually reproduces vegetatively, by producing new stems from its rhizome, in effect cloning itself. Sometimes it reproduces sexually by making seed, however, the habitat and climate where it grows is often unsuitable for germination. [1] Because many plants are clones rather than separate genetic individuals it is difficult to estimate the true number of plants existing. [1] One estimate suggests there are 11,000 to 18,000 plants in each of the three populations. [4] It is possible that more populations exist in unsurveyed gypsum rock habitat across the Eddy County border, in the state of Texas, but much of this habitat is on private land and is not open for exploration. [1]

This wild buckwheat species produces erect stems up to 20 centimeters tall and bearing inflorescences of many tiny bright yellow flowers in headlike clusters or cymes. The base of the plant is surrounded by a mat of green leaves growing on the branching caudex. [2]

Conservation

The plant is found on an area of land measuring under 250 acres (1.0 km2) total. [1] Much of the plant's habitat, including half of the Black River and Ben Slaughter Draw tracts and most all of the Seven River Hills, is protected within the bounds of Bureau of Land Management oversight. [3] In addition, the BLM will manage this land through the year 2028, even if the plant loses federal protection. [1] The main threat to the species is habitat destruction during gypsum mining and oil and gas exploration, [3] but this is prevented in BLM territory. There was only one population of the plant known in 1981 when it was federally listed; the other two have been discovered since, increasing the known abundance. In 2007, this factor, plus the lack of threats to the species as long as BLM protection is in place, led the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to suggest the species be delisted, or removed from the endangered species list. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Eriogonum</i> Genus of North American wild buckwheats

Eriogonum is a genus of flowering plants in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing. It includes some common wildflowers such as the California buckwheat.

<i>Eriogonum longifolium <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> harperi</i> Variety of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum longifolium var. harperi, also known as Harper's buckwheat or Harper's umbrella plant, is a dicot of the family Polygonaceae, found in areas of nutrient-poor shale soils in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. It lives inconspicuously in an immature vegetative stage for four or more years before developing a flowering stalk, then flowers and dies. It is listed as an endangered species by the state of Tennessee. It has eleven small populations in Alabama and five in Tennessee but its survival in Kentucky is uncertain. According to a leading expert, Professor James L. Reveal of the University of Maryland, its Kentucky population has been reportedly extirpated. Its 2006 Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranking was G4T2S1, demonstrating an opinion that it was "critically imperiled" in that state.

<i>Apodemia mormo langei</i> Subspecies of butterfly

Apodemia mormo langei, the Lange's metalmark butterfly, is an endangered North American butterfly. It is a subspecies of the Mormon metalmark and belongs to the family Riodinidae. The butterfly is endemic to California, where it is known from one strip of riverbank in the San Francisco Bay Area. A 2008 count estimated the total remaining population at 131 individuals. Since 2011, this number has dropped to about 25–30.

<i>Eriogonum alpinum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum alpinum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Trinity buckwheat.

<i>Eriogonum apricum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum apricum is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Ione buckwheat. It is endemic to Amador County, California, in the United States.

<i>Eriogonum ovalifolium</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum ovalifolium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name cushion buckwheat. It is native to western North America from California to Alberta, where it is a member of many plant communities in varied habitats, including the sagebrush steppe and alpine regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Hill Ecological Reserve</span> California nature reserve

Pine Hill Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of 403 acres (1.63 km2) located due east of Folsom Lake in the Sierra Nevada foothills, in El Dorado County, California. The reserve was established in 1979, and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

<i>Eriogonum kelloggii</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum kelloggii is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common names Red Mountain buckwheat and Kellogg's buckwheat. It is endemic to Mendocino County, California, where it is known from only five occurrences on Red Mountain near Leggett. It grows in woodland habitat on serpentine soils.

<i>Eriogonum callistum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum callistum is a rare species of wild buckwheat, known by the common name Tehachapi buckwheat.

<i>Eriogonum spectabile</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum spectabile is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Barron's buckwheat. It is endemic to Plumas County, California, where it is known from two occurrences in Lassen National Forest near Chester. There are approximately 250 individuals in existence. It grows in scrubby, forested mountain habitat, only on glaciated andesite substrates. This rare plant was discovered in 1997 and described to science as a new species in 2001.

<i>Eriogonum pelinophilum</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum pelinophilum is a rare species of wild buckwheat known by the common name clay-loving wild buckwheat. It is endemic to the state of Colorado in the United States, where it is known from only two counties. The most recent estimates available suggest there are 12 occurrences in existence for a total of about 278,000 individual plants in Delta and Montrose Counties. At least 7 occurrences observed in the past have not been relocated but are not yet believed extirpated. This plant is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.

<i>Frankenia johnstonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Frankenia johnstonii is a species of flowering plant known by the common name Johnston's seaheath, or Johnston's frankenia. It is native to southern Texas in the United States and northern Nuevo León in Mexico, where there are about 30 occurrences known. The plant was federally listed as an endangered species in the United States in 1984. It was found to be more abundant than previously thought and it was proposed for delisting in 2003.

<i>Hedeoma todsenii</i> Species of flowering plant

Hedeoma todsenii is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae known by the common name Todsen's pennyroyal, or Todsen's false pennyroyal. It is endemic to New Mexico in the United States, where it occurs in the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. It is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.

<i>Astragalus limnocharis <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> montii</i> Subspecies of legume

Astragalus limnocharis var. montii, synonym Astragalus montii, is a rare variety of flowering plant in the legume family. It is known by the common name Monti's milkvetch. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where there are only three known populations. Under the synonym A. montii, it is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

<i>Eriogonum codium</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum codium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names basalt desert buckwheat and Umtanum Desert wild buckwheat. It is endemic to Washington in the United States, where it is known only from Hanford Reach National Monument in Benton County. It was discovered in 1995 during an inventory of the biodiversity of the monument and described to science in 1997.

Eriogonum crosbyae is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Crosby's buckwheat. It is native to southcentral Oregon and northwestern Nevada in the United States. Some treatments include plants in Montana and Idaho as members of this species. This plant was first discovered in the Guano Valley in Lake County, Oregon, in 1978 by Bureau of Land Management botanist Virginia Crosby, and it was named for her in 1981.

Eriogonum visheri is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names Dakota wild buckwheat and Visher's buckwheat. It is native to the Great Plains in the United States, where it is known from North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.

<i>Eriogonum soredium</i> Species of wild buckwheat

Eriogonum soredium is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name Frisco buckwheat. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from Beaver County. There are four populations, all located in the San Francisco Mountains. It is a candidate for federal protection.

<i>Eriogonum tiehmii</i> Species of buckwheat plant endemic to Nevada

Eriogonum tiehmii, known as Tiehm's buckwheat, is a species of flowering plant endemic to the Silver Peak Range of Esmeralda County, Nevada, in the United States. Its only known population is at high risk of destruction due to proposed mining for lithium by Australian company Ioneer. In 2020, a noticeable decline in the known population was attributed to herbivory.

ioneer Ltd. is a lithium-boron supplier founded in 2001 and headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales. The company states that they are "intent on pioneering the production of materials necessary for a sustainable future." They are developing a Nevada mine site known as Rhyolite Ridge in order to be a future producer of lithium-boron.

References