Boltonia decurrens

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Boltonia decurrens

Imperiled  (NatureServe)[1]

ESA)[2][3]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Boltonia
Species:
B. decurrens
Binomial name
Boltonia decurrens
(
Alph.Wood

Boltonia decurrens is a rare species of flowering plant in the family

extirpated from Missouri, but a few populations have been located near St. Louis since the mid-1980s.[1][4] Despite having declined over time, several populations of the plant contain many thousands of individuals.[4] Populations vary depending on the amount and duration of flooding that occurs in the area each year.[1] The plant is a federally listed threatened species.[2][3]

This plant was long treated as a variety of

flower heads with white or pale purple ray florets measuring 1 to 2 centimeters long. The center contains many yellow disc florets. Flowering occurs in August through October. The plant reproduces vegetatively by growing new shoots and sexually by making seed. The species produces a large amount of seeds, averaging 50,000 per plant.[1] The seeds are dispersed on the water, particularly during floods.[1] In general the plant is adapted to floods; it has been noted to grow underwater, produce an inflorescence above the surface, bloom and produce seeds in flooded conditions.[1] The seeds germinate when they fall on wet substrate, or sometimes while they are still floating about on the water.[6]

Today the land next to the rivers is protected with many

locks, and accessed via marinas.[1] While the plant is adapted to periodic flooding, its seedlings can only germinate and grow in clear water that allows sunlight in; flooding that occurs now is more likely to be turbid with silt, a condition the plant cannot tolerate.[3][1] Recent large floods have been noted to deposit thick layers of silt, destroying plants.[3] Also, the disturbance of flooding is rare enough now that riversides become overgrown with brush, shading out the plants in a similar way.[1] In fact, in some areas the plant now depends on periodic human disturbance, such as mowing, to clear away the brush the way severe natural flooding once did.[1][6]

Population sizes vary depending on the amount of disturbance, such as flooding, occurring in the area. Populations have been noted to contain anywhere between one plant and one million plants or more, and some populations disappear for a time.[6] Several populations of the plant were noted to increase after the Great Flood of 1993, with the most severely swamped populations growing most.[7] Genetic analysis reveals the species is genetically diverse.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m NatureServe (4 August 2023). "Boltonia decurrens". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Decurrent false aster (Boltonia decurrens)". Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e Harrison, William F.; USFWS (14 November 1988). "Determination of threatened status for Boltonia decurrens". Federal Register. 53 (219): 45858–45861. 53 FR 45858
  4. ^ a b Center for Plant Conservation Archived December 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. JSTOR 4033138
  6. ^ a b c Ketzner, D., et al. (2003). Results from the decurrent false aster recovery project FAP 999 and FAP 14, Madison and St. Clair Counties, Illinois. Archived August 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Illinois Natural History Survey.
  7. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1646(199803/04)14:2<191::AID-RRR497>3.0.CO;2-A

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boltonia_decurrens&oldid=1169329442"