''Eriogonum longifolium'' var. ''harperi'', also known as Harper's buckwheat or Harper's umbrella plant, is a

dicot The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...

of the family ''

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—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 ...

'', found in areas of nutrient-poor

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

soils Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former term ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. It lives inconspicuously in an immature vegetative stage for four or more years before developing a

flowering A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

stalk, then flowers and dies. It is listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

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 James Lauritz Reveal (March 29, 1941 – January 9, 2015) was a U.S. botanist best known for his contributions to the genus '' Eriogonum'' and for his work on suprageneric names. His website, at PlantSystematics.org, also presents material on plan ...

of the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, its Kentucky population has been reportedly

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

. 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

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

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 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 ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

cliff

plant community A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant co ...

. Their foothold is attributed to human removal of competitors to allow a better view of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 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 A calcareous glade is a type of ecological community that is found in the central Eastern United States. Calcareous glades occur where bedrock such as limestone occurs near or at the surface, and have very shallow and little soil development. Du ...

site which is owned by the Alabama

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

. This

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 (''

Paysonia lyrata ''Paysonia lyrata'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name lyreleaf bladderpod. It is endemic to Alabama in the United States, where it is known from only three occurrences.USFWS''Lesquerella lyra ...

''), Nashville breadroot (''

Pediomelum subacaule ''Pediomelum subacaule'' is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Nashville breadroot and whiterim scurfpea. It is native to a small area of Eastern North America, only being found in limestone cedar glades ...

''), prairie Indian plantain ('' Arnoglossum plantagineum''), Tennessee milk vetch ('' Astragalus tennesseensis''), and yellow sunnybell ('' Schoenolirion croceum'').

References

External resources

Alabama inventory list 2003 (PDF)-see page 47Tennessee endangered plant list from state.tn.us (PDF)-see page 15University of Tennessee Herbarium link with photos

USDA List of Tennessee state protected plants
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5389406 longifolium var. harperi Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of Alabama Flora of Tennessee Threatened flora of the United States

Plant communities

See also

References

External resources