Potentilla robbinsiana

Last updated

Potentilla robbinsiana
Potentilla robbinsiana 01.jpg
Robbins' cinquefoil
(Potentilla robbinsiana)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Potentilla
Species:
P. robbinsiana
Binomial name
Potentilla robbinsiana
Oakes ex Rydb.

Potentilla robbinsiana, the dwarf mountain cinquefoil [1] or Robbins' cinquefoil, is a small yellow-flowered perennial growing exclusively above the tree line in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is nearly stemless and measures two to four centimeters in diameter. [2] [3]

Contents

History

A photo of Potentilla robbinsiana (Robbins' cinquefoil) taken by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. Potentilla robbinsiana 02.jpg
A photo of Potentilla robbinsiana (Robbins' cinquefoil) taken by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service.

The Crawford Path of Mount Washington, the oldest mountain hiking trail in America, was laid out in 1819 as a bridle path from Crawford Notch to the summit. [4] There is some discrepancy as to who discovered Potentilla robbinsiana, which some sources giving credit to its discovery in 1824 by English botanist and zoologist Thomas Nuttall, five years after completion of the Crawford Path. [5] The more likely case is its discovery in 1829 by James Robbins. After its discovery it was described by the botanist and explorer William Oakes. [6] It was soon recognized as a rare plant and over 850 specimens were collected and occasionally sold commercially to collectors and herbariums. In the 1970s a "backpacker boom" led to significantly increased use of the Crawford Path, making the plant's limited habitat vulnerable to hikers picking the flowers and trampling the plant. [5]

The plant's decline was mitigated when it received protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1980, at which time the known population was a 3,700 plants. A successful awareness program and effort to reroute trails away from its habitat, along with enclosures for the main population, had brought this to over 14,000 plants when it was delisted in August 2002. [7] Additional efforts included public education, biological research, seed collection and transplantion. [3]

The awareness program and repopulation efforts were successful in a large part due to a unique partnership between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the U.S. Forest Service, and the New England Wild Flower Society. [3]

Distribution

The White Mountain National Forest contains 100% of this species' global population. The plant has four extant occurrences, with two being natural and two others from transplant efforts. [8]

Habitat

Potentilla robbinsiana is generally placed in the dry/mesic heath meadow system of alpine communities, though it is also found on subalpine bare rock summits. The primary habitat is an exposed and barren fellfield habitat with high winds and low temperatures. While frost heaving is considered a requirement, too much causes mortality. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge</span> Protected mixed grass prairie on Oklahoma

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The refuge's location in the geologically unique Wichita Mountains and its areas of undisturbed mixed grass prairie make it an important conservation area. The Wichita Mountains are approximately 500 million years old. Measuring about 59,020 acres (238.8 km2), the refuge hosts a great diversity of species: 806 plant species, 240 species of birds, 36 fish, and 64 reptiles and amphibians are present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Monroe</span> Mountain in the American state of New Hampshire

Mount Monroe is a 5,372-foot-high (1,637 m) mountain peak southwest of Mount Washington in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, United States. It is named for American President James Monroe and is the fourth highest mountain on the 4000 footers list for New Hampshire. The Appalachian Trail skirts its summit, which is the next highest peak on or near the trail north of Mount Rogers in Virginia. The Lakes of the Clouds, and its AMC hut, lie nestled at the col between Mount Monroe and neighboring Mount Washington.

<i>Potentilla hickmanii</i> Species of flowering plant

Potentilla hickmanii is an endangered perennial herb of the rose family. This rare plant species is found in a narrowly restricted range in two locations in coastal northern California, in Monterey County, and in very small colonies in San Mateo County. This small wildflower, endemic to western slopes of the outer coastal range along the Pacific Ocean coast, produces bright yellow blossoms through spring and summer.

<i>Amaranthus brownii</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Amaranthus brownii was an annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae. The plant was found only on the small island of Nihoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, growing on rocky outcrops at altitudes of 120–215 m (394–705 ft). It was one of nine species of Amaranthus in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as the only endemic Hawaiian species of the genus. It is now considered extinct.

<i>Platanthera yadonii</i> Species of orchid

Platanthera yadonii, also known as Yadon's piperia or Yadon's rein orchid, is an endangered orchid endemic to a narrow range of coastal habitat in northern Monterey County, California. In 1998 this plant was designated as an endangered species by the United States government, the major threat to its survival being continuing land development from an expanding human population and associated habitat loss. One of the habitats of Yadon's piperia, the Del Monte Forest near Monterey, California, is the subject of a federal lawsuit, based upon endangerment of this organism along with several other endangered species.

<i>Pyrgus ruralis lagunae</i> Subspecies of the two-banded checkered skipper (Pyrgus ruralis)

Pyrgus ruralis lagunae, the Laguna Mountains skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is a subspecies of Pyrgus ruralis.

<i>Callicarpa ampla</i> Species of flowering plant

Callicarpa ampla, also called the capa rose, is a species of plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is found in Puerto Rico in the Caribbean region. It is threatened by habitat loss and is a critically endangered plant species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve</span> Natural reserve in California

The Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve of 8.22 acres (33,300 m2) in the community of Loch Lomond in Lake County, California. It is one of 119 ecological reserves managed by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). The ecological reserve system was authorized by the state legislature in 1968 for the purpose of conservation and protection of rare plants, animals and habitats.

<i>Potentilla recta</i> Species of flowering plant

Potentilla recta, the sulphur cinquefoil or rough-fruited cinquefoil, is a species of cinquefoil. It is native to Eurasia but it is present in North America as an introduced species, ranging through almost the entire continent except the northernmost part of Canada and Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marble Mountain Wilderness</span> Protected wilderness area in California, United States

The Marble Mountain Wilderness is a 241,744-acre (978.30 km2) wilderness area located 60 miles (97 km) southwest of Yreka, California, in the United States. It is managed by the United States Forest Service and is within the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County. The land was first set aside in April 1931 as the Marble Mountain Primitive Area, which comprised 234,957 acres (950.84 km2). It was one of four areas to gain primitive status under the Forest Service's L-20 regulations that year. In 1964, it became a federally designated wilderness area when the U.S. Congress passed the Wilderness Act.

<i>Baptisia arachnifera</i> Species of legume

Baptisia arachnifera, commonly known as hairy rattleweed, cobwebby wild indigo, hairy wild indigo, and hairy false indigo, is an endangered species of flowering plant in the legume family. Its native habitat is limited to sandy soils in pinewoods along the coastal plain of the U.S. state of Georgia.

The Bonny Doon Ecological Reserve is a nature preserve of 552 acres (2.23 km2) in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, United States. The reserve protects several rare and endangered plant and animal species within an area known as the Santa Cruz Sandhills, an ancient seabed containing fossilized marine animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasive species in the United States</span>

Invasive species are a crucial threat to many native habitats and species of the United States and a significant cost to agriculture, forestry, and recreation. An invasive species refers to an organism that is not native to a specific region, this poses significant economic and environmental threats to its new habitat. The term "invasive species" can also refer to feral species or introduced diseases. Some introduced species, such as the dandelion, do not cause significant economic or ecologic damage and are not widely considered as invasive. Economic damages associated with invasive species' effects and control costs are estimated at $120 billion per year.

<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>Potentilla hippiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Potentilla hippiana is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names woolly cinquefoil, horse cinquefoil, and Hipp's cinquefoil. It is native to North America, where it occurs in western Canada and the western United States. It occurs in eastern Canada and the US state of Michigan as an introduced species.

Achnatherum richardsonii is a species of grass known by the common names Richardson's needlegrass, spreading needlegrass, and Canada mountain-ricegrass. It is native to northwestern North America, where it is distributed from Alaska and Yukon through the western Canadian provinces south to Colorado.

An out-of-danger species is an animal or plant species formerly categorized as Rare, Vulnerable, or Endangered that has since been removed from these lists because the species' survival has been relatively secured, e.g. Ginkgo biloba. Often known as a delisted species, these animals have been moved out of the Rare, Vulnerable, or Endangered categories through conservation efforts and government policymaking to ensure their survival and population growth. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) established its list of endangered species in 1964, subsequently becoming a global authority on wildlife conservation. The following year, the United States created the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act as a federal authority on endangered species. Currently, both international and domestic organizations implement recovery efforts and track species' population growth, delisting when necessary. Removing a species from the endangered species list is generally a slow process; most organizations and governments require long periods of observation both before and after delisting. There have been numerous efforts to delist endangered species, with both international and country-wide recovery plans being regularly implemented. These programs have led to the recovery of dozens of species, but their overall effectiveness remains contested.

<i>Drymocallis glandulosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Drymocallis glandulosa, formerly Potentilla glandulosa, known by the common names Douglas' wood beauty and sticky cinquefoil, is a plant species in the family Rosaceae.

<i>Helianthus eggertii</i> Species of sunflower

Helianthus eggertii, known as Eggert's sunflower, is a North American species of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Alabama. It is best known as one of the few plants to have been delisted under the Endangered Species Act because of the species' recovery. It was described by John Kunkel Small in 1903.

<i>Drymocallis fissa</i> Species of plant in the genus Drymocallis

Drymocallis fissa, the bigflower cinquefoil, also known as the leafy cinquefoil, leafy drymocallis, or wood beauty, is a small plant also sometimes classified as Potentilla fissa. It is a herbaceous plant with a thick taproot known for its moderately hairy leaves, redish leaf stems, and relatively large yellow flowers. It is native to foothills and lower mountains the Rocky Mountain region in the western United States.

References

  1. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Potentilla robbinsiana". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  2. "Endangered and Dangerous Plants of New Hampshire". NH Living. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  3. 1 2 3 Ron Rothschadl. "Rare White Mountains Plant Recovers: Endangered Species Success Story". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  4. Condensed Facts About Mount Washington, Atkinson News Co., 1912.
  5. 1 2 "Robbins' Cinquefoil: A Partnership Success". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  6. "Species CINQUEFOIL, ROBBINS'". Virginia Tech Conservation Management Institute. Archived from the original on 2007-03-01. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  7. USFWS Delisting Report dated 8/2009
  8. 1 2 "Potentilla robbinsiana" (PDF). US Forest Service. Retrieved 2009-05-27.