NORTHERN NEVADA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
Rare Plant Committee Meeting
2001 MEMBER COMMENTS
http://heritage.nv.gov/nrpw/commnt01.htm
The following comments on 2001 agenda items were offered by participants and/or non-participants prior to the 2001 Workshop, and were made available at the workshop as a handout to participants. Those unable to attend but with thoughts or information to contribute are especially encouraged to submit them!
Member: Arnold Tiehm
Date: 26 March 2001
Comments: Eriogonum corymbosum var. glutinosum. I did not realize that the 2000 workshop had recommended this for addition to Nevada's list of fully protected flora. I thought we had shelved it until we knew the overall distribution and could assess what % of the populations occurred in Nevada. Reveal, Great Basin Naturalist 45: 502. 1985, uses the name var. aureum and mentions a change in the most recent International Code. He also has the distribution as "southern Utah and northern Arizona, with a disjunct population near Las Vegas". Here are my apprehensions. What is the overall distribution of the plant? It appears to be rather wide spread outside of Nevada. If say only 5% of the plants occur in Clark Co. then there is no way this plant should be on a rare plant list. Not even if all 5% are in danger of being lost. By putting this on a rare plant list we would be saying that only its occurrence in Nevada matters. We need to choose our battles and this is not one we should pursue!!
The alternative is to start what you [Jim Morefield] have been harping on for years, a list of plants rare in Nevada. I still believe this sort of a list is a make-work project and is more than we should be thinking about tackling.
Eriogonum salicornioides. I believe this should wait until someone verifies it in Nevada. Train's specimens were not well labeled and were widely sold. Why is the only sheet at Penn State? He collected this in Oregon and the chance of a label mix-up seems likely.
Eustoma exaltatum. How can a plant that occurs from CA and NV to the SE US, Central America, and the West Indies be endangered? Is this another Eriogonum corymbosum? I recommend removing it from any Nevada list and not considering it again!!!
Penstemon sudans. Did I send you info on the Nevada occurrences? There were two sheets at NY both collected by me. I know I sent the info to Gary Schoolcraft. You might check with him as I can't lay my hands on my collection #s.
Sphaeromeria argentea - see above!!!!
Member: Karen Zamudio
Date: 23 March 2001
Comments: Following is a list of species noted as sensitive to management activities in the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (Framework) which we might need to consider for inclusion on the Nevada List. On one hand if plants aren't on a list, no one wants to look for them, on the other I realize that a list loses meaning if it is filled with species without occurrences in NV. [I edited the following list to include species not yet known and/or tracked in Nevada, but with a decent likelihood of turning up in the state. Karen (and I!) are interested in having people look for a report any possible occurrences of these species in Nevada. --Jim Morefield].
Astragalus lentiformis: Found on volcanic soils, between 4,500 and 6,500 feet in eastside pine, eastside pine/sagebrush scrub or sagebrush scrub/grassy flats in Plumas Co. California. 55 occurrences are all in the area from Squaw Valley, Lake Davis and Claireville Flat east to Frenchman Lake. No known NV populations. (Might be possible in the Carson Range?) Threats are fire suppression, livestock grazing, timber harvest, road construction, mining, reservoir construction, and utility line construction. Classed as moderately vulnerable.
Botrychium lineare and Botrychium montanum: Found in wet to moist meadows with moss, grasses, sedges and rushes. Botrychium montanum is more often found associated with shaded coniferous forests near streams. They are all relatively wide spread but nowhere abundant. Identified threats are grazing and trampling by livestock, road construction and maintenance, and recreation use. Classed as high vulnerability species.
Cypripedium fasciculatum and Cypripedium montanum: Known from adjacent counties in California growing in late seral, moist conifer forests. Possibly occurring in the Carson Range. Threats are timber harvest, mechanical fuels reduction, intense fire, recreation, livestock grazing, road and trail maintenance and illegal collection.
Draba monoensis: This newly described species (1998) is known from two populations in the White Mountains of Mono County, CA, in wet alpine meadows. Threats could include trampling by recreationists, wild horses or road maintenance.
Epilobium howellii: Known from only four widely distributed locations: Yuba Pass in Sierra County, Fresno County, and Twin Lakes area in Mono County CA. This is a subalpine coniferous forest species found in wet meadows and mossy seeps. Threats are road maintenance, trampling, livestock grazing, off-highway vehicle use and hydrologic changes.
Erigeron miser: Known from rocky clefts in granite outcrops in higher elevations of Nevada and Placer counties in CA. Threats to the plants include chemical leaks/spills from adjacent roads, pipelines and railroad tracks, rock climbing and invasive weed infestations.
Eriogonum umbellatum var. glaberrimum: Found in California on the Warner Mountains and in Oregon on Steens Mountain. Habitat is sand and gravel soil within sagebrush plant communities. Threats include road construction, timber harvest, and prescribed burns.
Eriogonum umbellatum var. torreyanum: Found along the eastern side of the Sierra Crest in Sierra, Nevada and Placer Counties in CA on highly erosive volcanic meiss soils. (Could be found in NV in the Carson Range as well?) Threats include mining, livestock grazing, timber harvest, recreational activities especially ski area development.
Horkelia hispidula: Known from the White Mountains in Inyo and Mono counties CA. No known occurrences in NV currently. It is found in various sagebrush scrub plant communities frequently in small swales and drainages. Threats include livestock grazing and trampling and road construction and maintenance.
Lewisia longipetala: Known from a narrow band of subalpine communities along the Sierran crest from Truckee to Desolation Wilderness. Found in late laying snow zones on ridgetops. Potential in Mt. Rose region or south along Carson crest?. Threats are ski area development, recreation trail construction and maintenance and plant collection.
Meesia triquetra and Meesia uliginosa: Mosses distributed throughout most of the Sierra in cold spring-fed fens. Threats are changes in hydrology due to livestock grazing, timber harvest, construction of fuel breaks, recreation activities and roads.
Mimulus evanescens: Annual monkeyflower from Modoc and Lassen Counties in CA, eastern Oregon and Southwest Idaho. Found in seasonally moist areas in and near sagebrush plant communities. Threats are from livestock trampling, and any hydrology altering activities such as road building, and recreation.
Penstemon papillatus: Endemic to the eastern Sierra Nevada in Inyo and Mono Counties, CA. Growing in pinyon-juniper, sagebrush scrub, Jeffery pine and lodgepole pine plant communities. Trend is unknown. Threats are road and trail construction, recreation use, livestock grazing.
Pogogyne floribunda: Found in silver sagebrush basins and vernal pool edges on the Modoc Plateau of northeastern CA. Trend is unknown. Threats are off-road vehicles, livestock grazing and trampling, development of wetlands.
Scheuchzeria palustris var. americana: Sphagnum bog dependent from Lassen National Forest, Lassen National Park and historically from Sierra County and Lake Almanor in CA. Scattered locations in eastern North America and Alaska. Possibility in the Carson Range. Threatened with any wetland disturbance activities.
Member: Steve Anderson
Date: 1 March 2001
Comments: A few years ago we did start some plots and photo points for Lathyrus grimesii up in the Jacks creek area. The files are or were in Elko and probably sent to Jim. I would have guessed 1999 or 2000 would have been a 3 year or 5 year time to read the plots again. There definitely is a concern for Lathyrus grimesii and cheat grass. I don't recall that big of a problem with the Trifolium leibergii sites.
Member: David Charlet
Date: 25 April 2000
Comments: The individuals in the lineage that constitutes the entity I call "Washoe pine" are clearly distinguishable in Nevada, as the only "north plateau race" ponderosas (sensu Critchfield) are in the Painted Hills in northern Washoe county. The rest of the ponderosas are either var. scopulorum or the long-needled form in the Sierras. Both scopulorum and the Sierran ponderosa are very easy to distinguish from Washoes with ordinary means and material in hand. I think the best thing about the Vienna articles is that it makes a case for dividing var. ponderosa into the two forms recognized by Critchfield, the north plateau race (properly called var. ponderosa), and the Sierran form, which I think should be teased out into its own variety.
As to the cone morphology in order to distinguish Washoe from var. ponderosa, there are 1) incurved prickles, 2) cone scale #, 3) cone scale density, and 4) cone symmetry (north plateau race cones are asymmetric; Washoes are symmetric or nearly so). I regret that I did not make exhaustive measurements of all the material I collected in order to quantify the range of variation. Now most of my material is at RENO, but I do have some I've collected in the last two years with me that I could measure. This Washoe form, if we can justify calling it a separate taxon, is not "ecologically sympatric" (by that I mean growing in the same stands) in Nevada, and so land managers can easily distinguish it from ponderosas, either on the basis of morphology or ecology. This form is common outside the state only in the Warner Mountains, where it sometimes grows in the same stands with the north plateau race.
Member: Barbara Ertter
Date: 19 April 2000
Comments: Unfortunately, the question about Potentilla beanii can't be answered without understanding variation within the whole P. concinna complex, which I haven't had a chance to do. All our specimens are currently filed under P. concinna, based on annotations by Barry Johnston, who included this group in his unpublished doctoral study (the same one in which he overlooked P. morefieldii, however...) In his dissertation (which I purchased a copy of) he notes, under P. concinna var. concinna: "In southern Utah and in Nevada, a form with long-trailing stems, subdigitate leaves, and sparser pubescence occurs (P. proxima, P. beanii): it is the only form of var. concinna so far reported from Nevada. Plants with this combination of characters have also been collected on the northern Great Plains." Johnston subsequently coauthored the combination P. concinna var. proxima (Rydb.) Welsh & Johnston, which is used in "A Utah Flora" with P. beanii as a synonynm.
Still unpublished (as far as I know) is Johnston's P. concinna var. curvata, based on Maguire & Holmgren 25352 from the Quinn Canyon Range: "This variety resembles P. multisecta, similar in absence of tomentum, geographical range, habitat, and habit; however, var. curvata differs in its much shorter teeth on the leaflets, many fewer teeth, and the glandular pubescence. In division of the leaves and leaflets var. curvata differs from var. concinna but approaches var. bicrenata, from which it differs in the absence of tomentum; var. curvata also appears to be out of the range fo var. bicrenata. In pubescence and curving of the leaflets var. curvata resembles P. crinita var. crinita, but differs in its digitate leaves, few-flowered decumbent stems, and larger flowers; var. crinita is not known from Nevada."
For further confusion, and based on additional unpublished sources, Jiri Sojak (worldwide Potentilla expert from Prague) proposes P. concinnaeformis var. beanii, with proxima as a variety of P. diversifolia (distinct from P. glaucophylla). I have only an unpublished list he put together for my use, and accordingly have no idea what diagnostic characters or geographic ranges are involved. I believe that Sojak drew his conclusions primarily from examinations of type material, with no first hand experience of living material or the biogeographic setting. P. concinnaeformis itself is the name Rydberg used for plants from northern Arizona (e.g., San Francisco Peaks) and southern Utah. Rydberg treated P. proxima, also from south-central Utah to Arizona, in a separate section; beanii had not yet been described.
As for myself, I have not yet homed in on anything that makes collections from the Charleston Mountains stand out as distinct from collections of P. concinna from anywhere else.
(last updated 26 March 2001)