Dwarf-flowered heartleaf | Mountain golden heather
Small whorled pogonia | Heller's blazingstar | Bunched arrowhead
Green pitcher-plant | Mountain sweet pitcher-plant
White Irisette | Blue Ridge goldenrod | Virginia spirea
Rock gnome lichen
Main Plant Index
Links to Other Sites
A LIST OF PLANTS IN THE WNC AREA THAT ARE ENDANGERED OR THREATENED
Many sites provide a list of plants that are endangered or threatened in some way, but i wanted to sort of introduce these plants individually so that you get to know them, and hopefully feel their loss, should they not make it.
According to the US Fish & Wildlife website, this list is current as of October 31, 1999. All of the links below lead to their website and I do not have any photos of these plants. Because the actual plants are in short supply, i will get to these last, or not at all. Luckily, the US Fish & Wildlife provides photos in their overviews. The 'Species Accounts' is their more detailed breakdown of the plants as far as description, habitat, reasons for diminished populations and what the USF&W and other groups are doing about it.
I created this list to specifically target the WNC area. There are plenty more threatened and endangered vascular plants in the Eastern part of the state, the U.S, North America, and the World... most of which we either know nothing about or have no means of protecting.
Spreading avens - Geum radiatum - Endangered as of April 15, 1990
Family: Rosaceae -- Rose family
Spreading avens is a perennial herb that flowers from June to December and are making their stands on the mountaintops of Western NC and Eastern TN. It is a plant that favors open mountain summits, which are prime areas for recreational facilities. The construction of trails, parking lots, roads, buildings, observation platforms, and other facilities, combined with the increased foot traffic from sightseers, has already severely decreased populations. There are 11 known populations. Most of the sites have less than 50 individuals, and 3 have less than 10 plants.
Roan Mountain bluet - Hedyotis purpurea var. montana - Endangered as of April 15, 1990
Family: Rubiaceae -- Coffee family
Roan Mountain bluets is also a perennial herb, like the Spreading avens, inhabit high elevation cliffs, outcrops, and steep slopes which are exposed to full sun, and it suffers from the same compaction of soil by hikers and recreational facilities. It is known in only 6 sites, all of which are extremely small. 2 of the sites occupy less than 10 square meters.
Swamp pink - Helonias bullat - Threatened as of September 9, 1988
Overview
Species Accounts
Ecosystem Exhibit
Additional PhotoFamily: Liliaceae -- Lily family
Swamp pink is a beautiful plant and usually one of the first wildflowers to bloom in its region, generally from March to May. It looks like a pink koosh ball that is fragrant. The largest population is in Pisgah National Forests 'Pink Bed' area. It prefers wetland habitat that generally border small streams. It has been depleted both by collectors and gardeners (who may be unaware that its not only illegal, but that commercial seed sources are available) and trampling in high traffic areas. Pollution and reproduction method may also have affected the decline of this tender, beautiful plant.
Dwarf-flowered heartleaf - Hexastylis naniflora - Threatened as of April 14, 1989
Family: Aristolochiaceae -- Heartleaf family
The Dwarf-flowered heartleaf's flower is the smallest of any North American plant in this family, their floral tubes are never more than 7 millimeters even in full flower. Like others in this family, the leaves are heart-shaped, dark green, and tend to be leathery. There are only 24 known populations of this plant, spread in both NC and SC in the upper piedmont area. Recently several locations were destroyed by road construction.
Mountain golden heather - Hudsonia montana - Threatened as of October 20, 1980
Family: Cistaceae -- Rockrose family
Mountain golden heather looks somewhere between a moss and a low-lying juniper, sort of greenish yellow with its quarter-inch leaves hanging on from the previous year. All known populations of this this yellow flowering heather are in the Pisgah National Forest, east of Asheville. One critical habitat of this heather is in Linville Gorge, a popular hiking area, and soil compaction and trampling has taken its toll. Ironic that hikers may be unknowingly destroying a part of the nature they came to revere and enjoy. Many youth organizations and Boy Scout training occur in Linville Gorge.
Small whorled pogonia - Isotria medeoloides - Threatened as of October 6, 1994
Family: Orchidaceae -- Orchid family
Young Small whorled pogonia is a perennial that resembles indian cucumber root, but once mature is obviously different. A single, or sometimes double flower grows at the top of this small plant around April. Only 5 of the 23 populations occur in NC and most are on protected land in the foothills of the Apala. Part of the reason this small plant is threatened is due to over-collection by scientific and private collections, but the populations have declined too for reasons unknown.
Heller's blazingstar - Liatris helleri - Threatened as of November 19, 1987
Overview
Species Accounts
Other Photo
Family: Asteraceae -- Aster family
This perennial herb has a pretty and showy erect stem of lavender flowers from July thru September. It is found in the northern Blue Ridge mountains of NC on high elevation ledges of rock outcrops in shallow, acid soils which are exposed to full sunlight. It is threatened mostly by commercial and recreational development along with unintential trampling by hikers and the public. There are seven known remaining populations, five of which occur on privately-owned land, one on Forest Service land, and one on National Park Service land. Four of the sites in private ownership are part of recreational facilities.
Bunched arrowhead - Sagittaria fasciculata - Endangered as of July 25, 1979
Family: Alismataceae -- Water-plantain family
This perennial herb is aquatic and seems to reproduce by rhizomes. There has been no evidence of seed production despite having both male and female flowers. The only known occurances of this plant is one population In NC, in Henderson county and four populations in SC in Greenville county. Efforts to relocate the plants have failed and it is now speculated that the Buncombe County site was probably destroyed by the extensive development of the general area since 1896.
Green pitcher-plant - Sarracenia oreophila - Endangered as of September 21, 1979
I managed to locate this thumbnail of the plant, however the link to the larger photo was broken.
Overview
Species Accounts
Family: Sarraceniaceae -- Pitcher-plant family
Like other pitcher-plants this perennial is carnivorous and thrives to some extent via the decaying insects and leaves which have fallen into the pitcher-like leaves. There are a total of 34 naturally occurring populations including 31 in Alabama, one in Georgia, and two in North Carolina, in the Lake Chatuge area. Population sizes range from one to several hundred individuals, with most sites having fewer than 50 plants. It is endangered mostly because of collections for commercial sale. There also seems to be some evidence that fire may have played a role in its growth and maintenance.
Mountain sweet picther plant - Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii - Endangered as of April 14, 1989
Family: Sarraceniaceae -- Pitcher-plant family
This perennial herb like the one above is carnivorous. It grows from 21 to 73 inches tall, and its numerous and erect leaves grow in clusters and are hollow and trumpet-shaped, forming slender, almost tubular pitchers with a fasinating criss-crossing of maroon-purple veins and a heart-shaped hood. There are only four North Carolina populations all of which are located in the French Broad River drainage. There are also six populations in the Greenville, SC area, and all of these populations are small; some of them cover less than 50 square feet. Sixteen other known populations have been eliminated. mostly thru the elimination of the wetland habitat thru draining and collecting.
White irisette - Sisyrinchium dichotomum - Endangered as of September 20, 1991
Family: Iridaceae -- Iris family
This pretty and tiny perennial herb is endemic to the upper piedmont of North and South Carolina. It is currently known from four populations in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. Two of the remaining populations are within highway rights-of-way and a third is inside a commercial recreation area. It is endangered not only by residential development and road/utility work, but apparently also because of fire-suppression, needed to keep its habitat open. This seems to be complicated by the lack of large grazing animals such as deer to keep areas competitive and the introduction of agressive exotic weeds, such as Kudzu, Japanese honeysuckle, and Microstegium vimineum which are invading several populations.
Blue Ridge goldenrod - Solidago spithamaea - Threatened as of March 28, 1985
Family: Asteraceae -- Aster family
This erect perennial herb with stems 4 to 16 inches tall arises from a short, stout rhizome. The yellow flowers are borne in heads at the top of the plant in a loose round cluster. Flowering occurs during July and August. Found in elevations above 4,600 feet, there are only three known populations of this species - two in Avery County, NC, on privately-owned lands, and one on the border of Mitchell County, NC, and Carter County, TN, in the Pisgah National Forest. Trampling has been the major destroyer of these populations either in construction of observation platforms, parking lots and other recreational facilities or the subsequent visitation by hikers and sightseers.
Virginia spirea - Spriraea virginiana - Threatened as of June 15, 1990
Family: Rosaceae -- Rose family
This shrubby plant grows from 2 to 10 feet tall and has arching, upright stems bearing cream-colored flowers on branched and flat-topped axes. While the species has 24 population sites in 6 States, thirteen of these populations have less than 10 plant clumps; eight sites have 10 to 50 clumps, and only three sites have more than 50 clumps. Its occurance in NC is in only four spots - Ashe, Macon, Mitchell and Yancy counties. It has ceased to grow in its historic location in Buncombe county, NC probably due to reservoir construction. This plant requires periodic flooding for new and existing sites, and water stabilization has put it in peril. Other threats facing this plant are: tourist traffic and recreational activities; upland timbering and dumping; and insect damage. To date, no seedlings have been observed at any locations, and mature seeds have been found at only a few sites, very few of which have ever germinated.
One non-vascular plant, is also endangered.
Rock gnome lichen - Gymnoderma lineare - Endangered as of January 18, 1995
Family: Cladoniaceae -- Reindeer moss family
This lichen is a pretty blue-grey which darkens to black near the base. It is shiny-white underneath and curls at the edges to expose this. It is endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains of NC and TN, where it is limited to 32 populations. Only seven of the remaining 32 populations cover an area larger than 8 feet square. Most are 3 foot or less in size. Almost all populations occur above 5,000 feet and are in moist-rich areas, as the light/moisture requirements for this plant is pretty specific. It seems to be threatened by a barrage of factors which inlude intensive recreational use, development, pollution, alien insects (specifically, the the balsam wooly adelgid which has depleted nearby spruce-fir forests that probably helped the sites maintain humidity).
One plant is proposed to be either endangered or threatened and i have no futher information on it, but it may be principally a tidewater species in NC. It is the Bog asphodel (Narthecium americanum) of the Liliaceae family which has some populations in DE, NJ, NY, and SC also.
The FULL LIST for North Carolina Endangered and Threatened Vascular plants can be found at this location. on the US Fish and Wildlife website.
