Rare Vascular Plants

The first comprehensive survey of rare vascular plants at the INEEL was conducted by Cholewa and Henderson (1984).  They reported one species on the “federal watch list” and eight species on the “state watch list.”  Four of those species are no longer listed (see below) as a result of new information on their distribution and abundance in Idaho.  More recent surveys were conducted by James Glennon in 1990 in conjunction with sampling for refining the classification of the vegetation map and by Karl Holte and James Glennon in 1993.  Holte and Glennon made extensive searches of the INEEL and immediate vicinity during the exceptionally wet 1993 growing season.  During this survey, three additional species were found that are on State or Federal lists.  At present, seven “sensitive” plants are known to occur at the INEEL, and one Federal Candidate occurs on Big Southern Butte.  The status of each, as well as that of the species originally listed by Cholewa and Henderson (1984), is shown in Table 1(below).  Representative specimens were deposited in the Ray J. Davis Herbarium at the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University and at the INEEL Herbarium.

Table 1.  Status of rare vascular plants of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and vicinity.
Species Family Distribution Status1
Astragalus aquilonius2 Fabaceae Uncommon, western foothills d
Astragalus ceramicus var. apus Fabaceae Common, north end of INEEL f
Astragalus gilviflorus Fabaceae Uncommon, Reno Point b
Astragalus kentrophyta Fabaceae Northwest portion of INEEL f
Camissonia pterosperma Onagraceae Rare, northwest foothills d
Escobaria missouriensis Cactaceae Common, Reno Point e
Gymnosteris nudicaulis Polemoniaceae Scattered, southern INEEL f
Halimolobos perplexa Brassiceceae Rare, on buttes e
Iponopsis polycladon Polemoniaceae Common, western foothills c
Lesquerella kingii var. cobrensis Brassiceceae Common, east side East Butte f
Oxytheca dedroidea Polygonaccae Uncommon, thoughout INEEL d
Phacelia inconspicua Hydrophyllaceae Big Southern Butte a

1 Federal and State status categories, or prior status:

a.  Federal Candidate List

b.  State Priority 1:  A taxon in danger of becoming extinct from Idaho in the foreseeable future if identifiable factors contributing to its decline continue to operate; these are taxa whose populations are present only at critically low levels of whose habitats have been degraded or depleted to a significant degree.

c.  State Priority 2:  A taxon likely to be classified as Priority 1 within the foreseeable future in Idaho, if factors contributing to its population decline or habitat degradation or loss continue.

d.  State Sensitive:  A taxon with small populations or localized distributions within Idaho that presently do not meet the criteria for classification as Priority 1 or 2, but whose populations and habitats may be jeopardized without active management or removal of threats.

e.  State Monitor:  Taxa that are common within a limited range or taxa that are uncommon, but have no identifiable threats.

f.  Listed by Cholewa and Henderson (1984), but subsequently removed from State or Federal Lists.
2  Common names are listed in Flora.


       Flora Publication