Pedicularis furbishiae

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Pedicularis furbishiae
Pedicularis furbishiae.jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Genus: Pedicularis
Species:
P. furbishiae
Binomial name
Pedicularis furbishiae

Pedicularis furbishiae, or Furbish's lousewort, is a perennial herb found only on the shores of the upper Saint John River in Maine and New Brunswick. Furbish's lousewort was first recognized as a new species by Maine naturalist and botanical artist Kate Furbish (who named it Furbish's wood betony) in 1880. [3] It is considered an endangered species in the United States and Canada, and is threatened by habitat destruction, as well as riverside development, forestry, littering and recreational use of the riverbank. It was formerly in the family Scrophulariaceae, but is now placed in the family Orobanchaceae. Once thought to be extinct, it is considered a Lazarus taxon.

Contents

Description

Furbish's lousewort is not distinguished by large and showy flowers. The Nature Trust of New Brunswick says it "averages 75 cm in height. During its first few years of growth, it forms a basal rosette of deeply incised fern like leaves. Usually after three years the lousewort begins to flower, often from a single, slightly hairy and reddish tinged stem with a few branches near the top. Furbish's lousewort flowers are small, yellow and snap-dragon like. They are clustered in a short cylindrical head, and open sequentially from the lower to the upper-most between July and August." [4]

Distribution and habitat

Furbish's lousewort grows on the bank of the Saint John River in three areas of New Brunswick and at 18 sites in Maine. [5] It needs moist, unstable, semi-shaded, eroding banks subject to flooding, and ice-scouring. In this way, it is typical of an entire group of shoreline species (e.g. Sabatia kennedyana , Platanthera flava ) that grow in wet meadows created by spring flooding and ice scour, combined with summer low water periods. [6] Its range extends 225 km (140 mi) from "the town of Andover, New Brunswick ... upstream to a point 2.4 km (1.5 mi) past the confluence with the Big Black River in Aroostook County, Maine". [7] [8] Despite only being found in a limited range today, previous records show it was found throughout the Aroostook River, but recent surveys have found no such populations. [2]

Conservation

Because it is endangered and endemic to the area, development projects have been restricted to preserve its habitat. For example, the Dickey-Lincoln dam, a $227 million hydroelectric project proposed on the upper Saint John River in 1974, [9] was deauthorized by Congress in 1986 after years of study, because the dam would have flooded 88,000 acres (360 km2) of Maine forest and severely reduced the lousewort's habitat. [10] [11] Some criticized ending the dam project to protect the lousewort; Time magazine called the idea "downright silly" in 1977. [12] While thought extinct at the time the dam was proposed, it was rediscovered in 1976 by C.D. Richards while doing surveys to determine the environmental impact of the dam. [13]

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<i>Pedicularis contorta</i> Species of flowering plant

Pedicularis contorta is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common names coiled lousewort and curved-beak lousewort. It is native to western North America, including southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States, where it grows in moist mountainous habitat, such as bogs, shady forests, and meadows. It is a perennial herb producing one or more stems up to 40 centimetres (16 in) tall from a caudex. The leaves are up to 18 centimetres (7.1 in) long, lance-shaped to oblong, and divided into many linear lobes which may be toothed or smooth-edged. The inflorescence is a raceme of flowers occupying the top of the stem. Each flower is a centimeter long or slightly longer, white to yellowish in color, and divided into a coiled or curved beak-like upper lip and a flat, three-lobed lower lip. The fruit is a capsule up to a centimeter long containing seeds with netted surfaces.

<i>Pedicularis dudleyi</i> Species of tree

Pedicularis dudleyi is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common name Dudley's lousewort. It is endemic to central California, where it is known from about ten scattered occurrences along the coast and in the coastal mountain ranges. It has been found in three locations along the Central California coast. The species was named for 19th-century Stanford University botanist William Dudley.

<i>Pedicularis semibarbata</i> Species of flowering plant

Pedicularis semibarbata, known by the common name pinewoods lousewort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae.

<i>Conradina verticillata</i> Species of flowering plant

Conradina verticillata is a flowering shrub in the mint family, found in the Cumberland Plateau. It is also called Conradina montana or Cumberland rosemary. It has been classified as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act since 1991.

<i>Pityopsis ruthii</i>

Pityopsis ruthii is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Ruth's golden aster. It is endemic to the US state of Tennessee, where it is known only from Polk County. It is threatened by the modification of its habitat. It is a federally listed endangered species.

<i>Pedicularis palustris</i> Species of flowering plant

Pedicularis palustris, commonly known as marsh lousewort or red rattle, is a plant species in the family Orobanchaceae. It is native to central and northern Europe and Asia where it grows in wetlands and boggy habitats. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of least concern.

<i>Pedicularis sylvatica</i> Species of flowering plant

Pedicularis sylvatica, commonly known as common lousewort, is a plant species in the genus Pedicularis. It is native to central and northern Europe where it grows on moist acidic soils, moorland, grassy heathland and the drier parts of marshes.

References

  1. Rochester, J. (2018). "Pedicularis furbishiae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T81441044A132760345. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T81441044A132760345.en . Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Pedicularis furbishiae. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  3. "Ecology "Natural Tourist"". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  4. "Furbish's lousewort - The Nature Trust of New Brunswick". Archived from the original on 2007-09-07. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  5. "Species at risk - Furbish's lousewort". Archived from the original on 2006-04-07. Retrieved 2007-11-10.
  6. Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Chapter 2, Figure 2.5.
  7. Furbish's lousewort Habitat Model
  8. Maine State & Federal Endangered & Threatened Species Lists: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/species/endangered_species/state_federal_list.htm
  9. Portland Press Herald Stories of the Century
  10. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Dickey-Lincoln School Lakes Project at Dickey, Maine: Final Environmental Statement. Waltham, MA: U. S. Army Engineer Division, New England, 1981.
  11. Kate Furbish Collection
  12. In Search of the Elusive Lousewort - TIME
  13. Landownerbooklet12_copy.pub