| Solidago plumosa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| Order: | Asterales |
| Family: | Asteraceae |
| Tribe: | Astereae |
| Genus: | Solidago |
| Species: | S. plumosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Solidago plumosa Small | |
Solidago plumosa is a rare species of goldenrod known by the common names Yadkin River goldenrod, [1] plumed goldenrod, [2] and plumose goldenrod. [3] It is endemic to North Carolina in the United States, where it grows only on the banks of the Yadkin River. There is only one known population. It is a candidate for federal protection. [1]
Solidago, commonly called goldenrods, is a genus of about 100 to 120 species of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. Most are herbaceous perennial species found in open areas such as meadows, prairies, and savannas. They are mostly native to North America, including Mexico; a few species are native to South America and Eurasia. Some American species have also been introduced into Europe and other parts of the world.
Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.
North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. It borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U.S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties. The capital is Raleigh, which along with Durham and Chapel Hill is home to the largest research park in the United States. The most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City.
This plant is a perennial herb with an erect, ridged, mostly hairless, purple-colored stem up to a meter tall, sometimes growing in tufts. The alternately-arranged leaves are spatula-shaped to linear in shape and measure up to 30 centimeters long. They are smooth-edged or toothed. The inflorescence is a panicle of many flower heads with yellow petals each about half a centimeter long. [1] [3]
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike, by requiring that the flowers be pedicellate. The branches of a panicle are often racemes. A panicle may have determinate or indeterminate growth.
This rare plant is known only from a 2.5-mile stretch of the Yadkin River in North Carolina. It grows along the banks in cracks in the mafic bedrock. It can also anchor in concrete at the bases of local dams. It is sometimes subjected to scouring by floodwaters. It may grow alongside other plants, including Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana), winged elm (Ulmus alata), sweet-gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum), false indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), orangegrass (Hypericum gentianoides), and white false indigo (Baptisia alba). [1]
Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock that is rich in magnesium and iron, and is thus a portmanteau of magnesium and ferric. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks include basalt, diabase and gabbro. Mafic rocks often also contain calcium-rich varieties of plagioclase feldspar.
In geology, bedrock is the lithified rock that lies under a loose softer material called regolith at the surface of the Earth or other terrestrial planets. The broken and weathered regolith includes soil and subsoil. The surface of the bedrock beneath the soil cover is known as rockhead in engineering geology, and its identification by digging, drilling or geophysical methods is an important task in most civil engineering projects. Superficial deposits can be extremely thick, such that the bedrock lies hundreds of meters below the surface.
Concrete, usually Portland cement concrete, is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time—most frequently a lime-based cement binder, such as Portland cement, but sometimes with other hydraulic cements, such as a calcium aluminate cement. It is distinguished from other, non-cementitious types of concrete all binding some form of aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with a bitumen binder, which is frequently used for road surfaces, and polymer concretes that use polymers as a binder.
The plant grows next to two dams, the Narrows Dam and the Falls Dam. It is likely that these structures alter the normal flow regime of the river enough to constitute a threat to the species. The plant may depend on periodic flooding to scour competing vegetation out of its habitat. The dams prevent or reduce the frequency of these flooding events. Introduced species of plants may threaten the species, particularly mimosa (Albizia julibrissin), which easily takes hold in the local riverbank habitat. [1]
An introduced species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental. Non-native species can have various effects on the local ecosystem. Introduced species that become established and spread beyond the place of introduction are called invasive species. The impact of introduced species is highly variable. Some have a negative effect on a local ecosystem, while other introduced species may have no negative effect or only minor impact. Some species have been introduced intentionally to combat pests. They are called biocontrols and may be regarded as beneficial as an alternative to pesticides in agriculture for example. In some instances the potential for being beneficial or detrimental in the long run remains unknown.
Albizia julibrissin is a species of tree in the family Fabaceae, native to southwestern and eastern Asia.
Other threats to the plant include trampling by boaters and fishermen, who commonly use the immediate habitat for river access. Pollution may also occur. [1]
