Eriogonum longifolium var. harperi
Encyclopedia
Harper's umbrella plant Eriogonum
longifolium
Nutt. var. harperi, also known as Harper's buckwheat
or Harper's umbrella plant
is a dicot of the family Polygonaceae
, found in areas of nutrient-poor shale
soils in Alabama
, Kentucky
and Tennessee
. It lives inconspicuously in an immature vegetative stage for four or more years before developing a flowering stalk
, then flowers and dies. It is listed as an endangered species
by the state of Tennessee. It has eleven small populations in Alabama and five in Tennessee but its survival in Kentucky is uncertain. According to a leading expert, Professor James L. Reveal of the University of Maryland
, its Kentucky population has been reportedly extirpated
. Its 2006 Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranking was G4T2S1, demonstrating an opinion that it was "critically imperiled" in that state.
property in northern Alabama and is estimated to be over 700 plants. There the umbrella plants cohabit with prickly pear (Opuntia spp.)
and false aloe (Manfreda virginica)
in an upland calcareous
cliff plant community. Their foothold is attributed to human removal of competitors to allow a better view of the Tennessee river
from one of the buildings on the property.
Another northern Alabama population is found on a cedar glade site which is owned by the Alabama Nature Conservancy. This plant community is home to many other rare and endangered plants including Alabama glade cress (Leavenworthia alabamica)
, Alabama larkspur (Delphinium alabamicum)
, glade quillwort (Isoëtes butleri) , lyrate bladderpod (Lesquerella lyrata)
, Nashville breadroot (Pediomelum subacaulis)
, prairie Indian plantain (Arnoglossum plantagineum), Tennessee milk vetch (Astragalus tennesseensis)
, and yellow sunnybell (Schoenolirion croceum).
Eriogonum
Eriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...
longifolium
Eriogonum longifolium
Eriogonum longifolium - Longleaf Eriogonum or long-leaf wild buckwheat - is a dicot of the family Polygonaceae. In addition to populations of E. longifolium var. longifolium found in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, there are varieties or subspecies that are...
Nutt. var. harperi, also known as Harper's buckwheat
Buckwheat
Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
or Harper's umbrella plant
Umbrella Plant
The common name Umbrella Plant can refer to several unrelated species:* Cyperus alternifolius * Darmera peltata * Eriogonum longifolium var. harperi...
is a dicot of the family Polygonaceae
Polygonaceae
Polygonaceae is a family of flowering plants known informally as the "knotweed family" or "smartweed family"— "buckwheat family" in the United States. The name is based on the genus Polygonum and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1789 in his book, Genera Plantarum. The name refers...
, found in areas of nutrient-poor shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
soils in Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. It lives inconspicuously in an immature vegetative stage for four or more years before developing a flowering stalk
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
, then flowers and dies. It is listed as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
by the state of Tennessee. It has eleven small populations in Alabama and five in Tennessee but its survival in Kentucky is uncertain. According to a leading expert, Professor James L. Reveal of the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, its Kentucky population has been reportedly extirpated
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
. Its 2006 Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranking was G4T2S1, demonstrating an opinion that it was "critically imperiled" in that state.
Plant communities
One of the larger E. longifolium var. harperi populations is found on TVATennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
property in northern Alabama and is estimated to be over 700 plants. There the umbrella plants cohabit with prickly pear (Opuntia spp.)
Opuntia
Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus , is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider...
and false aloe (Manfreda virginica)
Manfreda
Manfreda is a genus of about 20 species of flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Along with Polianthes, members are commonly called tuberoses. Some authorities place Manfreda in genus Polianthes, while others group place both genera in Agave...
in an upland calcareous
Calcareous
Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...
cliff plant community. Their foothold is attributed to human removal of competitors to allow a better view of the Tennessee river
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
from one of the buildings on the property.
Another northern Alabama population is found on a cedar glade site which is owned by the Alabama Nature Conservancy. This plant community is home to many other rare and endangered plants including Alabama glade cress (Leavenworthia alabamica)
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae, a medium sized and economically important family of flowering plants , are informally known as the mustards, mustard flowers, the crucifers or the cabbage family....
, Alabama larkspur (Delphinium alabamicum)
Delphinium
Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, larkspur, is shared with the closely related genus Consolida...
, glade quillwort (Isoëtes butleri) , lyrate bladderpod (Lesquerella lyrata)
Lesquerella
Lesquerella is a genus of flowering plants in the familyBrassicaceae. Some are referred to by the common name Bladderpod and bladderpod oil is extracted from the seeds of Lesquerella fendleri and certain other species in the genus....
, Nashville breadroot (Pediomelum subacaulis)
Pediomelum
Pediomelum is a genus of legumes known as Indian breadroots. These are glandular perennial plants with palmately-arranged leaves. They have a main erect stem with inflorescences of blue or purple flowers and produce hairy legume pods containing beanlike seeds...
, prairie Indian plantain (Arnoglossum plantagineum), Tennessee milk vetch (Astragalus tennesseensis)
Astragalus
Astragalus is a large genus of about 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, and yellow sunnybell (Schoenolirion croceum).
See also
- BuckwheatBuckwheatBuckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
- Cedar glade
- EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
- Endangered speciesEndangered speciesAn endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
- EriogonumEriogonumEriogonum is the scientific name for a genus of flowering plants, in the family Polygonaceae. The genus is found in North America and is known as wild buckwheat. This is a highly species-rich genus, and indications are that active speciation is continuing...
- North American wild buckwheat - Eriogonum longifoliumEriogonum longifoliumEriogonum longifolium - Longleaf Eriogonum or long-leaf wild buckwheat - is a dicot of the family Polygonaceae. In addition to populations of E. longifolium var. longifolium found in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, there are varieties or subspecies that are...
- longleaf eriogonum or long-leaf wild buckwheat - Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifoliumEriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifoliumEriogonum longifolium Nutt. var. gnaphalifolium Gand , commonly referred to as Scrub Buckwheat is a dicot of the Polygonaceae family. It is listed as threatened in the US and endangered in Florida...
- scrub buckwheat - Eriogonum longifolium var. lindheimeriEriogonum longifolium var. lindheimeriEriogonum longifolium var. lindheimeri, commonly known as Lindheimer's long-leaf eriogonum and Lindheimer's buckwheat, is a dicot of the family Polygonaceae, found in New Mexico and Texas.-See also:...
- Plant community
- Soils retrogression and degradationSoils retrogression and degradationSoil retrogression and degradation are two regressive evolution processes associated with the loss of equilibrium of a stable soil. Retrogression is primarily due to erosion and corresponds to a phenomenon where succession reverts back to pioneer conditions . Degradation is an evolution,...