Oreocarya crassipes

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Oreocarya crassipes
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Oreocarya
Species:
O. crassipes
Binomial name
Oreocarya crassipes
(I.M.Johnst.) Hasenstab & M.G.Simpson
Synonyms [2]

Cryptantha crassipesI.M.Johnst.

Oreocarya crassipes is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Terlingua Creek cat's-eye. It is endemic to Brewster County, Texas, where it is known from only ten populations totaling about 5000 plants. [3] All of the occurrences are within a ten-kilometer radius. [1] This is a federally listed endangered species.

Contents

Description

This is a perennial herb producing several erect stems reaching a maximum height around 25 centimeters. There is a clump of basal leaves around the stem bases. The herbage is covered in silvery soft and bristly hairs. The inflorescence is a head of yellow-throated white flowers. [1] The plants are often coated in a sooty black fungus. [3]

Distribution and habitat

This plant grows only on the Fizzle Flat lentil, a small geologic formation in the Terlingua Creek watershed just north of Big Bend National Park. [3] [4] This lentil is a unique expanse of limestone rock which is rich in gypsum and bound with clay. The formation, which locals call a "moonscape", [4] is pale yellow in color because of its mineral makeup and about 50 feet thick. [5] The chalky rock breaks into plates and contains many fossils. The area is very dry and it receives full, hot sunlight. [3] [1] [6] The lentil is almost totally devoid of plant life; this species and other hardy plants, such as Castilleja elongata and Lycium berberioides , occur around the edge of the lentil. [3] [1]

The rare plant is limited to a specific substrate. The area is affected by human activity in several ways. The land is all privately owned and unprotected. Off-road vehicles drive on the badlands, which are used both in the mining of bentonite and for access in the grazing of livestock in the area. [3] [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cryptantha crassipes. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. "Oreocarya crassipes (I.M.Johnst.) Hasenstab & M.G.Simpson". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cryptantha crassipes. Archived 2010-12-15 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
  4. 1 2 Cryptantha crassipes. Texas Parks and Wildlife.
  5. USGS. Geologic Unit: Fizzle Flat. National Geologic Map Database.
  6. USFWS. Final rule to list the plant Cryptantha crassipes (Terlingua Creek Cat's-eye) as endangered. Federal Register September 30, 1991.

Further reading