Rare Care & Conservation - University of Washington Botanic Gardens 3501 NE 41st Street, Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195-4115 USA - 206 616-0780 RARE http://depts.washington.edu/rarecare - [email protected] Fall/Winter 2006 Vol I No 2 PLANT

GGREATREAT FFFINDSINDSINDS::: Vague sighting from 45 years ago confirmed R Two of Rare Care’s rare plant moni- Meanwhile, Annee Pusateri accepted tors reported exciting finds this year. a C. lasiocarpa assignment elsewhere in Richard Ramsden located an occurrence Snohomish County. She knew that others E of Dryas drummondii originally reported had searched unsuccessfully for the same in 1961. It was observed somewhere on a population in 2004 and 2005. Spring rain- Rare Care staff mountain in Snohomish County, but the fall, vague directions and rerouted trails Sarah Reichard, Ph.D., report was so vague, its location couldn’t and roads are just 3 factors affecting the Director be mapped with any degree of precision. search for historic populations, so Rare Wendy Gibble, S Ramsden had heard of this historic Care generally conducts 3 searches in Program Manager occurrence and selected a Campanula different years by at least 2 volunteers Ellen Kuhlmann, lasiocarpa assignment for Rare Care on before discontinuing a search. Pusateri Seeds of Success Project Manager the same mountain. After collecting data found the occurrence in mid-August. S See her images on page 2. Jennifer Youngman, on the Campanula, he searched in likely Program Assistant spots for the Dryas. His search was re- Training planned in 3 locations warded by the discovery of 18 . Science Advisory Board The report of his find has added Two rare plant monitoring and seed Peter Dunwiddie, Ph.D. many details to the element occurrence collection training sessions are planned John Gamon for eastern Washington in 2007. The Russell Holmes record, including the specific location, Art Kruckeberg, Ph.D. associated species found at the site first will be in Wenatchee March 31- Regina Rochefort, Ph.D. and potential threats. This is one of April 1. Spokane will host the second Ted Thomas five known occurrences in Washing- training, date to be announced. The ton, and the only one in Snohomish annual Seattle-based monitoring session County. is set for March 3. RRESEARCHESEARCH::: Cheatgrass limits seedling establishment We have all heard that invasive species are a threat to native rare plant pop- ulations, but exactly how they impact rare plants is often unclear. Julie Combs, a UW graduate student, sheds some light on this subject in her master’s research on Astragalus sinuatus. A. sinuatus is a narrowly distributed endemic plant that occurs in two drainages in the foothills of the Wenatchee Mountains. Only eight extant populations remain. Consequently, it is listed as a Washington State endangered plant and a Federal Species of Concern. A. sinuatus populations occur in areas heavily invaded by (cheatgrass). B. tectorum was accidentally introduced in the late 1800s. By the 1930s it was widespread across the western United States. The rapid spread of B. tectorum stems in part from the ranching industry, because it’s favored College of Forest Resources as a forage crop. “One of the biggest challenges of controlling Bromus,” notes Combs, “is that ranchers are still plowing native shrub-steppe vegetation to encourage the establishment of Bromus for forage.” Thus, understanding the role B. tectorum plays in threatening the persistence of rare plant populations is important for building consensus on appropriate land management prac- tices in eastern Washington. Combs became interested in rare Astragalus species while working for The Nature Conservancy in southern Nevada. (continued on page 2)

NNEWEW —— AADOPTDOPT AA RARERARE PLANTPLANT POPULATIONPOPULATION!! Visit http://depts.washington.edu/rarecare/SupportUs.htm to see up-to-date species Calochortus nitidus lists and learn more about this new way to support rare plant conservation! FFEATUREEATURE PPPLANTLANT::: Campanula lasiocarpa Photographs by Annee Pusateri

Clear diagnostic images are vital for documenting species identification. Upper left: Campanula lasiocarpa has jagged or toothed leaves. Right: C. lasiocarpa’s hypan- thium is moderately to densely covered with long hairs. (See these photos in color at http:// depts.washington.edu/ rarecare.)

Herbarium manager to teach plant ID to volunteers & public Rare Care is working with the UW Volunteers receive priority registra- Botanic Gardens continuing education tion and a discount. See UWBG’s web- program to provide focused training for site later this year for more information: volunteers. Sessions will encompass a http://depts.washington.edu/urbhort/ By Richard Ramsden range of subjects, such as invasive plant html/education/adulteducation.htm. In this state, Campanula identification, soil classification and lasiocarpa shares habitat with preparation of voucher specimens. Germination tests yield seedlings one other of its genus, C. rotundi- The first class will be native plant Germination testing has begun, and folia. The blue nodding bell flow- ers are similar, though C. lasio- identification taught by UW Burke we have already produced 12 seedlings! carpa's are somewhat larger. Museum Herbarium Manager Dr. David We are finding good germination of Foliage is a key difference. Giblin. In this class, you’ll learn diagnos- Astragalus sinuatus seeds after 3 years of C. rotundifolia has lance-shaped tic characteristics of major plant families storage in the Miller Seed Vault at 15ºC leaves on its stems and rounded represented in Washington’s native and 22% relative humidity. leaves at its base. C. lasiocarpa’s flora, and practice keying out native spe- More germination testing is leaves are jagged or toothed. cies using a technical key. The course planned. If you can help on a weekly Seed capsules differ, too. C. ro- will meet at UWBG once a week on a basis, please contact 206 616-0780 tundifolia's remain nodding like weeknight starting in February 2007. or [email protected]. its flowers, while C. lasiocarpa's straighten and mature upright. What factors affect the persistence of A. sinuatus? Unverified reports also place C. lasiocarpa in the Olympic (continued from page 1) The results of these experiments mountains. There it would also One of the questions she addresses in her showed no effect of B. tectorum presence share habitat with C. piperi. research is the impact B. tectorum has on on seed germination or plant fecundity. C. piperi has very sharply toothed seedling establishment and plant fecun- But seedling survival was drastically leaves and upright seed capsules dity. Combs established experimental reduced in control plots. like C. lasiocarpa. The two are plots in two different A. sinuatus popula- Combs hypothesizes that since easily differentiated when in tions. In one experiment, she evaluated B. tectorum is a winter annual and germi- bloom as C. piperi's flowers take whether seedling germination and sur- nates before A. sinuatus, it may dramati- the shape of stars, not bells. vival differed in plots where B. tectorum cally reduce the amount of soil moisture was manually removed versus control available to A. sinuatus seedlings. The plots, where no Bromus was removed. evidence from this study supports the In a second experiment, plant fecun- idea that B. tectorum may be a strong dity (measured by number of seeds pro- driver in limiting population growth duced by a plant that are not damaged by of A. sinuatus. seed-eating insects) was compared in B. Combs also evaluated the importance tectorum removal plots and control plots. of seed herbivory by insects. She found that pre-dispersal seed predation had a Astragalus sinuatus seeds are heavily predated. profound negative effect on seed output Photograph by Julie Combs. in both populations studied. Rare Care is grateful for generous support provided by the Miller Charitable Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Bullitt Foundation, the Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, The Mountaineers Foundation, private organizations and individual donors.