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Conserving and restoring
America's native plants |
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CPC National Collection Plant Profile
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Leavenworthia aurea var. texana
| Family: |
Brassicaceae (Mustard or Crucifer Family) |
| Common Names: |
Texas Golden Glade Cress, golden gladecress |
| Taxon Synonyms: |
Leavenworthia aurea Torr. var. texana (Mahler) Rollins, Leavenworthia texana Mahler, Leavenworthia texana Mahler and L. aurea Torr. in Correll & Johnston (1979) |
| Author: |
(Mahler) Rollins |
| Growth
Habit: |
Annual |
| CPC
Number: |
7701 |
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| Primary
custodian for this plant in the CPC National Collection of Endangered
Plants is: |
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| David C. Berkshire contributed to this Plant Profile. |
Leavenworthia aurea var. texana
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A pretty little winter annual less than 1 dm tall. Leaves in a basal rosette, lyrately lobed with a large terminal lobe and several smaller lateral lobes, to about 5 cm long, glabrous, the terminal lobe usually wider than long, the margin usually angularly toothed. Flowers borne on scapes 3-9 cm or, later in the season, in racemes on lateral decumbent branches; sepals 4, 4-5 mm long; petals 4, bright golden-yellow with a slightly darker base, narrowly obovate, 7-10 mm long, emarginate at the apex (with aging); stamens 6; style 2-3.5 mm long. Fruit a silique flattened parallel to the septum, erect, 1.5-3 cm long and about 5 mm wide, with sinuous rather than straight margins (somewhat constricted between the seeds), containing several orbicular seeds 3.5-4.5 mm in diameter (Correll & Johnston 1979; Mahler 1987).
U.S Army officer, Dr. M. C. Leavenworth, discovered the Texas Golden Glade Cress and another rare endemic, White Bladderpod, Lesquerella pallida, on small prairies near San Augustine, Texas in the 1830s. Both Texas Golden Glade Cress and White Bladderpod only occur in the wild on shallow calcium–containing soils on ironstone outcrops of unusual geological regions called the Weches Formation. The Weches Formation is composed of bands of ancient marine sediments that lie parallel to the Gulf Coast from Sabine to Frio Counties. In East Texas, these alkaline "islands" of soil contrast the surrounding acid soils of the Pineywoods. The thin top layer of these alkaline sediments contains fossilized calcium-containing marine shells and the mineral glauconite. The glades remain saturated during rainy periods and then become very dry during the heat of the summer (W.F. Mahler, 1981).
The seeds of these species normally begin to germinate on the glades during fall rains and the plants over winter as small tap-rooted plantlets.
FLOWER PHENOLIOGY: Flowering and fruiting late February to April or May
| Distribution
& Occurrence |
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State Range
Habitat
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Occurs within oak-hickory-pine forests within the Pineywoods of the Coastal Plain region of East Texas. L. aurea var. texana is found within these forests on rocky outcrops of an unusual geological region called the Weches formation. The Weches formation is a band of ancient marine sediments that lies parallel to the Gulf Coast from Sabine to Frio Counties. In East Texas, these alkaline "islands" of soil contrast the surrounding acid soils in this region of the Pineywoods. The thin top layer of these alkaline sediments contains fossilized calcium, potassium and magnesium-containing marine shells and covers a layer of grayish-green impermeable glauconite clay that oxidizes to a reddish-brown color. This clay traps water and remains saturated during rainy periods and becomes very dry during the heat of the summer. The soils of the Weches outcrops are of the Trawick and Nacogdoches series (R. Turner 2001). |
Distribution
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Endemic to east Texas. Sabine and San Augustine counties in Texas; experimentally introduced to one site in Nacogdoches County. |
Number Left
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4 sites, numbers range from a few hundred to a few thousand plants per site |
State/Area
Protection
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State/Area |
Rank |
Status |
Date |
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Texas |
S1 |
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| Conservation,
Ecology & Research |
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Ecological
Relationships
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As a winter annual, L. aurea var. texana is well-adapted to its unique habitat on the Weches formation, however, it is intolerant of competition. This species is most successful in relatively deep, bare soils with sparse herbaceous ground cover (Turner 2001). It will not grow under a closed forest canopy or on sites with a deep litter layer. It appears to be pollinated by a variety of small insects from the orders Diptera and Hymenoptera (Turner 2001).
Rare East Texas plants found in Weches outcrops include Sedum pulchellum, Calylophus drummondianus, Liatris mucronata, Paranychia virginica, Petalostemum pulcherrimum, Heliotropium tenellum, Eleocharis compressa and Cuphea viscosissima (George and Nixon 1990; Correll and Johnston 1979; Berkshire 1998). Other plants found as companions to L. pallida may include: Asclepias verticillata, Boerhaavia erecta, Calylophus berlandieri ssp. berlandieri, Cahamaecrista fasciculata, Cuphea viscosissima, Dracopsis amplexicaulis, Erigeron strigosus, Galactia volubilis, Mirabilis collina, Modiola caroliniana, Monarda citriodora, Oxalis dillenii, Palafoxia rosea, Polanisia dodecandra ssp. trachysperma, Polanisia erosa var. erosa, Portulaca oleracea, Sabatia campestris, Solanum carolinense, Stachys crenata, Triodanis perfoliata and Verbena haleiand others (Correll and Johnston 1979; Berkshire 1998). Woody species common to the deeper soil strata of the Weches outcrops include Gleditsia triacanthos, Liquidambar styraciflua, Rosa bracteata, Juniperus virginiana, Forestiera ligustrina, Rhamnus lanceolata, Cornus drummondii and Cissus incisa (George and Nixon, 1990). |
Threats
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• Open pit mining of glauconite for road surface material ("green rock") is the most severe and permanently destructive threat to Texas Golden Glade Cress habitat (Turner 2001).
Also extremely vulnerable to:
• Trampling, overgrazing, herbicides for treatment of brush in pasturelands.
• Private development of population sites or potential habitats.
• Sensitive to public land use including county road right-of-way grading, mowing and stockpiling of building materials.
• Fire suppression is a major threat, allowing the encroachment of woody vegetation onto the outcrops. Exotics including the Macartney Rose, Rosa bracteata, and Japanese Honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica along with native woody species are threats (USFWS 1987). |
Current Research Summary
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• Germination studies underway at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens
• Mercer, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, TX and the National Seed Storage Laboratory in Ft. Collins, CO maintain seed banks for this species |
Current Management Summary
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Representatives from The Nature Conservancy (Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Silsbee, Texas City) USFWS (Clear Lake, Nacogdoches); The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Nacogdoches; Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, Humble and Stephen F. Austin State Univ. and the Pineywoods Native Plant Center in Nacogdoches prepared the “Conservation Area Plan for the San Augustine Glades” in March 2003 (Halstead, L., 2003). Target species included the Texas Golden Glade Cress and White Bladderpod and Texas Trillium. Recovery goals for the Texas Golden Glade Cress and White Bladderpod include securing at least 12 populations of ~1,600 individuals per population for each. Some of the current populations are managed in cooperation with owners of the land that the plants occur on. Current management includes removal of brush and minimizing grazing pressure on Texas Golden Glade Cress. Populations along roadways are monitored and seeds are harvested as needed (Nemec, K., 2004). |
Research Management Needs
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• Basic biological/ecological studies of the plant to identify habitat requirements for reintroductions.
• Selection of reintroduction sites maintenance of suitable sites.
• Encourage landowners to preserve existing populations.
• Controlled burns and targeted herbicide treatments limited to July-October should be conducted wherever possible.
• Selected logging around populations to increase its range with concurrent management of competitive vegetation.
• Controlled grazing may be utilized to suppress competing vegetation where possible.
• Surveys for unknown populations.
• Continue monitoring sites. |
Monitoring Efforts
Ex Situ Needs
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• Expansion of seed bank.
• Continued selection of potential reintroduction sites.
• Continued research to determine life history, pollination and germination requirements. |
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| Books (Single Authors)
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| Correll, D.S.; Correll, H.B. 1975. Aquatic and wetland plants of southwestern United States. 2 vols. Stanford. Stanford University Press. |
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| Correll, D.S.; Johnston, M.C. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas. Renner: Texas Research Foundation. 1881p. |
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| Poole, J.M.; Carr, W.R.; Price, D.M.; Singhurst, J.R. 2007. Rare Plants of Texas. College Station, TX. Texas A&M University Press. 640p. |
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| Books (Sections)
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| Poole, J.M.; Carr, W.R.; Price, D.M.; Singhurst, J.S. 2007. Rare Plants of Texas. Texas A&M Univ. Press. |
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| Electronic Sources
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| Center for Plant Conservation. (2005). National collection of endangered plants. [web site]. http://www.center for plant conservation. Accessed: 2005. |
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| USFWS. (1987). Determination of endangered status for Lesquerella pallida (white bladderpod). Federal Register 52 (47): 7424-7426. http://ecos.fws.gov/tess/frdocs/1987/87-5065.pdf. |
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| Journal Articles
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| Al-Shehbaz. 1988. The genera of Arabideae (Cruciferae, Brassicaceae) in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arboretum. 69: 85-166. |
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| Baskin, J.M.; Baskin, C.C. 1971. Germination ecology and adaptation to habitat in Leavenworthia spp. (Cruciferae). Amer. Midl. Naturalist. 85: 22-35. |
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| George, R.J.; Nixon, E.S. 1990. The herbaceous flora of three Weches formation outcrops in Eastern Texas. SIDA. 14, 1: 117-127. |
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| Hartman, R.L.; Nelson, B.E. 1998. Taxonomic novelties from North America north of Mexico: A 20 year vascular plant diversity baseline. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 67: 1-59. |
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| Lloyd, D.G. 1965. Evolution of self compatibility & racial differentiation in Leavenworthia (Cruciferae). Contr. Gray Herb. 195: 3-134. |
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| Lloyd, D.G. 1968. Pollen tube growth & seed set in self-incompatible and self-compatible Leavenworthia (Cruciferae) populations. New Phytol. 67: 179-95. |
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| Lloyd, D.G. 1969. Petal-color polymorphism in Leavenworthia (Cruciferae). Contr. Gray Herb. 198: 9-40. |
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| Lloyd, D.G. 1986. Partial unilateral incompatibility in Leavenworthia (Cruciferae). Evolution. 22: 382-93. |
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| MacRoberts, M.H.; MacRoberts, B.R.; Cathey, J.C. 2002. Floristics of xeric sandylands in the post oak savanna region of East Texas. Sida. 20: 373-86. |
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| Rollins, R. C. 1993. The Cruciferae of continental North America. |
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| Rollins, R.C. 1956. The problem with Leavenworthia aurea. Rhodora. 58: 73-76. |
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| Rollins, R.C. 1963. The evolution and systematics of Leavenworthia (Cruciferae). Contr. Gray Herb. 192: 1-98. |
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| Solbrig, O.T. 1972. Breeding system and genetic variation in Leavenworthia. Evolution. 26: 155-60. |
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| Solbrig, O.T.; Rollins, R.C. 1977. The evolution and autogamy in species of the mustard genus Leavenworthia. Evolution. 31: 265-81. |
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| USFWS. 1997. Endangered and threatened species review of plant and animal taxa: proposed rule. Federal Register. 62 (182): 49398-411. |
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| USFWS. 2005. Endangered & threatened wildlife & plants; review of native species that are candidates or proposed for listing as endangered or threatened; annual notice of findings on resubmitted petitions; annual descriptions of progress on listings action; proposed. Federal Register. 70 (90): 24870-934. |
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| Personal Communications
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| Nemec, K. 2004. Personal communication to Anita Tiller at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. |
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| Turner, R. 2001. Personal communication to Anita Tiller at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. |
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| Reports
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| Berkshire, D.C. 1998. Unpublished document. Prepared for Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. |
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| Carr, W.R. 2004. Working draft of February 2004. An Annotated List of the G3/T3 and Rarer Plant Taxa of Texas. |
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| Halstead, L. 2003. Conservation Area Plan for the San Augustine Glades, March, 2003. The Nature Conservancy, San Antonio, TX. |
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| Knopf, F.L. 2001. Endangered species information needs, USGS Central Region, FY 2001. Denver. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Disipline, Central Region. |
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| Kral, R. 1983. A report on some rare, threatened, or endangered forest-related vascular plants of the South. Atlanta. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Southern Region. R8-TP2. |
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| Mahler, W.M.F. 1981. Notes on rare Texas and Oklahoma plants. Sida 9(1):239-242. |
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| Mahler, W.M.F. 1987. Leavenworthia Texana (Brassicaceae), A New Species from Texas. SIDA 12(1): 239-242. |
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| unknown. 1978. Status Report (on Leavenworthia aurea Torrey). Tulsa. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. |
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| USFWS. 2003. Candidate assessment and listing priority assignment form. Clear Lake, TX. |
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| West Gulf Coastal Plain Ecoregional Planning Team. 2003. The West Gulf Coastal Plain ecoregional conservation plan. San Antonio. The Nature Conservancy. |
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| Theses
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| George, R. J. 1987. The herbaceous flora of three Weches Formation outcrops in eastern Texas. [M.S. thesis]: Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches. |
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