Physaria thamnophila

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Physaria thamnophila
Lesquerella thamnophila.jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Physaria
Species:
P. thamnophila
Binomial name
Physaria thamnophila
(Rollins & E.A.Shaw) O'Kane & Al-Shehbaz
Synonyms

Lesquerella thamnophila

Physaria thamnophila (syn. Lesquerella thamnophila) is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Zapata bladderpod. It is native to Texas in the United States, where it is known from Zapata and Starr Counties. [1] The plant is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. [2] It is federally listed as an endangered species.

This is a perennial herb producing one or more spreading stems from a woody base. The stems grow to 80 centimeters in maximum length. The herbage is silvery in color due to a coat of branching hairs. The leaves are oval to lance-shaped and smooth to faintly toothed on the edges, the lowest leaves reaching 12 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a raceme of yellow flowers. [3] Blooming can occur through September whenever there is enough moisture. [3] The population size can also increase rapidly after a significant amount of rainfall. [2]

This plant grows in desert shrublands above the Rio Grande floodplain in southern Texas. The substrate is calcareous clay and sandstone in geologic formations that contain an abundance of fossils. [2] The terrain is sparsely covered by thorny shrubs and cacti, with the plant community dominated by Leucophyllum frutescens and Acacia berlandieri . Other plants in the habitat include Acacia rigidula (blackbrush acacia), Prosopis spp. (mesquite), Celtis pallida (granjeno), Yucca treculeana (Spanish dagger), Zizyphus obtusifolia (lotebush), and Guaiacum angustifolium (guayacan). [2] Some shrubs may serve as nurse plants to the bladderpod, which grows in their shade and may benefit from their protection from soil erosion and herbivory by animals. [2]

This plant was thought to be limited to Zapata and Starr Counties in Texas, but there has been a documented population south of the border in Tamaulipas and the plant may occur in Webb County, Texas. [2] There are approximately eleven populations known, but only about seven of these still exist. [2] During dry spells the populations can shrink to low numbers, but flourish again when rain occurs. [2]

The main threat to the species is habitat destruction and modification. [2] Non-native grass species have been introduced to the region to make pastures for grazing. Some areas have then become overgrazed. The landscape has been cleared and developed and associated infrastructure has been installed, including highways and transmission lines. There is active petroleum exploration occurring in the area. [2]

Related Research Articles

Tamaulipan mezquital Xeric shrublands ecoregion in Mexico and the United States

The Tamaulipan mezquital is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It covers an area of 141,500 km2 (54,600 sq mi), encompassing a portion of the Gulf Coastal Plain in southern Texas, northern Tamaulipas, northeastern Coahuila, and part of Nuevo León.

<i>Physaria fendleri</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria fendleri is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by several common names, including Fendler's bladderpod, popweed, and lesquerella.

<i>Physaria</i> Genus of flowering plants

Physaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae. Many species are known generally as twinpods, bladderpods, or lesquerella. They are native to the Americas, with many species endemic to western North America. They are densely hairy annual and perennial herbs often growing prostrate or decumbent, along the ground in patches or clumps. They bear inflorescences of bright yellow flowers. The fruit is often notched deeply, dividing into twin sections, giving the genus its common name.

<i>Paysonia lyrata</i> Species of flowering plant

Paysonia lyrata is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name lyreleaf bladderpod. It is endemic to Alabama in the United States, where it is known from only three occurrences. It is federally listed as a threatened species.

Paysonia perforata, known by the common name Spring Creek bladderpod, is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family. It is endemic to Tennessee in the United States, where it is known only from Wilson County. This very rare plant is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is federally listed as an endangered species.

<i>Physaria filiformis</i> Species of plant

Physaria filiformis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Missouri bladderpod and limestone glade bladderpod. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas in the United States. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1987 and it was downlisted to threatened status in 2003. P. filiformis remains listed as an endangered species at the state level in Missouri.

<i>Physaria obcordata</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria obcordata is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Dudley Bluffs twinpod. It is similar in appearance to the more common Piceance twinpod, but can be distinguished by looking at the leaves through a hand lens. The Piceance twinpod, Physaria acutifolia has stellate hairs when viewed through a hand lens while Physaria ocordata has markings that look like a satellite dish, or a circle with a dot in the middle. It is endemic to Colorado, where it is found only in the Piceance Basin in Rio Blanco County. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

<i>Physaria globosa</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

Physaria hemiphysaria is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common names Intermountain bladderpod and skyline bladderpod. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it grows on rocky ridges and outcrops of sandstone, shale, clay, and sand.

Physaria parviflora is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Piceance bladderpod and frosty bladderpod. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in Garfield, Mesa, and Rio Blanco Counties.

Physaria fremontii is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Fremont's bladderpod. It is endemic to Wyoming in the United States, where it occurs only in and around the Wind River Range in Fremont County.

<i>Physaria tenella</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria tenella is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Moapa bladderpod and slender bladderpod. It is native to western North America from Utah to Sonora, where it grows mainly in desert habitat. This is an annual herb producing several hairy multibranched erect to spreading stems sometimes exceeding half a meter long. The basal leaves are up to 6.5 centimeters long and sometimes toothed, and there are smaller leaves higher on the stem. The inflorescence is a raceme of flowers at the tip of the stem. The mustardlike flower has four orange to bright yellow petals each up to a centimeter long. The fruit is a plump, hairy, rounded capsule.

Leavenworthia crassa is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae, known commonly as the fleshy-fruit gladecress. It is endemic to Alabama in the United States, where it occurs in only two counties. It is "likely one of the most imperiled plant species in the Southeast," and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule listing it as an endangered species in 2014.

Physaria pallida is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name white bladderpod. It is endemic to Texas in the United States, where it is known only from San Augustine County. It is federally listed as an endangered species.

<i>Physaria congesta</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria congesta is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Dudley Bluffs bladderpod. It is endemic to western Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from seven occurrences in Rio Blanco County. It is federally listed as a threatened species.

<i>Physaria kingii</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria kingii is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name King bladderpod. It is native to western North America from Utah to Baja California, where it grows in dry and rocky habitat, such as deserts and adjacent mountain slopes. This is a perennial herb growing a small, hairy stem from a caudex. The leaves form a patch or rosette around the caudex, each up to 6 centimeters long and round, oval, diamond, or spoonlike in shape. The inflorescence is an erect or mostly upright raceme of bright yellow mustardlike flowers. The fruit is a hairy capsule under a centimeter long suspended on a short, often curvy pedicel.

<i>Physaria parvula</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria parvula is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name pygmy bladderpod. It is native to the Western United States, where it can be found in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.

<i>Physaria pruinosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria pruinosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Pagosa Springs bladderpod and frosty bladderpod. It is native to Colorado and New Mexico in the United States.

<i>Physaria tumulosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Physaria tumulosa is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Kodachrome bladderpod. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from Kane County. There is only one known population of this plant made up of scattered occurrences totalling about 20,000 individuals, all within the Kodachrome Basin. The plant is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat. It is federally listed as an endangered species. It was previously treated as a subspecies of Physaria hitchcockii.

<i>Physaria ludoviciana</i> Species of flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae

Physaria ludoviciana is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family Brassicaceae, with the common names of bladder pod, silver bladderpod, louisiana bladderpod, and foothill bladderpod. It used to be Lesquerella ludoviciana which is now a synonym.

References

[4] [5]

  1. 1 2 Lesquerella perforata. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 USFWS. Lesquerella thamnophila Recovery Plan. July 2004.
  3. 1 2 Physaria thamnophila. Flora of North America.
  4. ↑ Fowler, Norma; Fowler, Norma; Price, Dana; Best, Christopher; Hempel, Alice (2009). "Status and habitat requirements of Physaria thamnophila, an endangered species of Tamaulipan thornscrub". Nature Precedings: 1. doi:10.1038/npre.2009.3656 – via ResearchGate.
  5. ↑ Hempel, Alice L. (January 2009). "Status and habitat requirements of Physaria thamnophila, an endangered species of Tamaulipan thornscrub".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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