Washington Rare Plant Care & Conservation | University of Washington Botanic Gardens 3501 NE 41st Street, Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195-4115 USA | 206 616-0780 | [email protected] RARE www.uwbotanicgardens.org/rarecare | www.facebook.com/RareCare Fall/Winter 2015 Vol X No 2 PLANT

R Showy stickseed exploits environments with low competition Rare Care, along with faculty and graduate students at the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, wrapped up a multi- E year study of the federally-endangered showy stickseed (Hackelia venusta). The study was funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to support recovery efforts for the species by developing a better under- standing of its habitat requirements and Pygmy saxifrage found Rare Care staff S by improving propagation techniques. Sarah Reichard, Ph.D., One focus of the study was to char- In each new monitoring season, Director acterize the physical and chemical prop- we’re delighted by a few unexpected Wendy Gibble, Program Manager erties of the soils at the site of the only discoveries. This year, these finds include a single pygmy saxifrage Jennifer Youngman, S known population. The soils appear to be Program Coordinator quite different than other soils in the area. (Saxifraga hyperborea) high up near The species grows on a loose granitic sand a rocky mountain summit. Science Advisory Board on slopes exceeding 30 degrees. Vegeta- This occurrence was documented Joe Arnett tion on these soils is quite sparse, and the in 1979 when “an occasional lone Peter Dunwiddie, Ph.D. John Gamon surface soils are actively sliding downhill. plant” was noted. Rare Care volun- Art Kruckeberg, Ph.D. This raised the question as to whether the teers searched diligently for this oc- Regina Rochefort, Ph.D. soils have a unique chemical composition currence from 2010-2013. After three Ted Thomas Kelli Van Norman that facilitates showy stickseed’s unsuccessful attempts, we removed it survival. from our monitoring list in order to Soil studies were completed by focus on other rare plant occurrences. Betsy Vance for her Master’s thesis. So why did our volunteers find it She found that the soils had low this year? They were searching for organic content, nitrogen levels something else! A US Forest Service typical of Pacific Northwest forests, botanist asked us to monitor Tisch’s and high extractable phosphorus saxifrage (Saxifraga tischii) at the levels. Notably, she determined that same site. Two volunteers who had nothing in the soil chemistry profile searched that summit previously for was uniquely different from typical S. hyperborea accepted the S. tischii PNW soils that would explain showy assignment; they were familiar with stickseeds preference for the site. The high the area. They found five Tisch’s phosphorus levels (continued on page 2) saxifrage plants. (continued on page 4)

US Forest Service recognizes Rare Care for citizen stewardship Lomatium rollinsii The US Forest Service awarded Rare Care its Regional Volunteer Award for Citi- zen Stewardship & Partnerships, thanks to hundreds of Rare Care volunteers from Washington and Oregon who have visited approximately 1,000 rare plant popula- tions on federal, state, and other public lands over the past 14 years, In her nomination, District Botanist Lauri Malmquist wrote, “As staffing and funding to the Botany/Ecology Program on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest continue to decline, [Rare Care’s] rare plant monitoring program has played a vital role in continuing the monitoring necessary to provide critically needed infor- mation on the status of Washington State’s rare plant species. . . . The scarcity of updated information on these plants puts them at risk of extirpation as a result of

School of Environmental and Forest Sciences development, invasive species competition and other threats. All USFS Forest in College of the Environment Washington State have benefitted from this volunteer effort. . .” Top left, Hackelia venusta hardening off outdoors before outplanting (photo by Gail Roberts). Bottom left, Hackelia venusta (photo by Ellen Kuhlmann). Top right, Saxifraga hyperborea (photo by Brenda Cunningham). View photos in color under “Newsletters” at http://depts.washington.edu/uwbg/rarecare/about.shtml Hackelia outplanting scheduled for November (continued from page 1) likely result from the wildfires that have occurred at the site and are also found in other forest soils in Washington. She also looked for the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), an association that would allow showy stickseed better access to soil nutrients. DNA was extracted from several root samples and from soil in the immediate vicinity of the plant roots to determine whether showy stickseed was colonized by AMF. The DNA testing results were inconclusive: AMF was present in the roots of a showy stickseed plant at a nearby introduction site but not in the roots of a plant collected at the native population. The study also evaluated above-ground environment, including the compo- sition of the overstory and understory, and availability of light. We found that showy stickseed occupied sites where only 20 to 37 percent of the ground was 2016 Calendar covered by herbaceous vegetation, with most of the ground either bare or cov- ered with non-vascular species or woody debris. Its preferred microsites with Sat. Mar. 5—Rare Plant Monitoring low cover of shrub, grass, and non-vascular plants, but relatively higher forb Training, Seattle cover. In other words, showy stickseed is occupying sites that other forbs also Sat. Apr. 2—Navigation Training, Seattle seem to prefer within this dynamic environment. It seems that its low competi- tive ability is what restricts it to these sites. Sat. Apr. 2—Annual Volunteer Forum, From these results, we surmise that the limited distribution of showy stick- Seattle seed is due primarily to its ability to exploit the coarse, unstable soils at the sites Sat. May 21—Rare Seed Collecting that result in a low competitive environment. Interestingly, many members of Training, Seattle (prerequisite: Rare the Hackelia genus are found on unstable soils and tend to divide their taproots Plant Monitoring Training) as a strategy to survive in dynamic environments. Because of this, many species TBA—Additional Volunteer Forums and of Hackelia are patchily distributed on the landscape. In the case of showy stick- Trainings, statewide seed, it is so rare because the combination of terrain, soil, aspect and vegetation TBA—Annual Rare Plant Monitoring cover that provides it suitable habitat appears to be limited to the immediate Weekend vicinity of the existing population. Rare Care also continued work on improving propagation protocols for TBA—Launch of new UW Botanic Gar- showy stickseed. Previous experiments yielded germination rates of 10 to 20%, dens website, including rare plant im- a rate that is too low to develop a viable strategy for augmenting the population. age galleries and other new features Under this study, we were able to achieve germination rates of 85%, a vast im- Information about volunteering provement that allows us to produce adequate material for outplantings. We and training may be found at also evaluated several combinations of growth media and containers and we will www.uwbotanicgardens.org/rarecare be outplanting the plants produced from these experiments in November. Surveys for gray cryptantha yield positive results

Rare Care staff and volunteers fanned out across and recommend future visits once the area experiences sand dunes in central Washington this spring in search of consecutive years of average or above-average precipi- gray cryptantha (Cryptantha leucophaea), a species that ap- tation. pears to be in decline (see the Spring 2015 Rare Plant Press Rare Care volunteers also completed a number of newsletter for more information: http://goo.gl/6ntEF4). Over visits to small populations to supplement the information the past five years, Rare Care’s volunteers have been una- gathered at the large sites. Similar to work done in previ- ble to relocate a number of gray cryptantha’s populations, ous years, they obtained mixed results for these sites. causing concern among land managers about the status of Three of the sites were not found, and the other four each this species. With funding from the Bureau of Land Man- held fewer than 100 plants and were smaller than popula- agement, Rare Care revisited 11 populations, including tions sizes reported historically. some of the historically largest populations, to see if the Combining this year’s survey results with previous decline was occurring across all populations. surveys in the past five years, Rare Care has now visited Multi-day surveys were carried out at Hanford 35 of the 47 known occurrences of this species. Three con- Reach, Juniper Dunes, Potholes Reservoir, and Priest tain populations of 1,000 or more individuals, five have Rapids Dam vicinity. These areas hold the largest con- between 100 and 500 individuals, 15 are smaller than 100 centrations of sand deposits in the state, and large popula- individuals, and 12 could not be relocated. Nineteen of the tions were historically reported from all of them. In addi- 23 populations we found appeared to be smaller than pre- tion, Rare Care staff and volunteers revisited several vious reports. While this is a worrying trend, we are re- smaller populations to document their status, and several lieved to know that there are at least three large popula- exploratory searches were completed in areas adjacent to tions with healthy, reproductive individuals that are known populations. spread out over a large portion of its range. We found and documented three populations with over 1,000 individuals. The largest known population oc- curs at Hanford, where 6,300 plants were counted over Right: Gray three days. Staff from BLM, Washington Natural Herit- cryptantha sports age Program, and Mission Support Alliance’s Ecological white flowers with Monitoring and Compliance – Department of Energy’s yellow centers May contractor for the Hanford Site – assisted with the effort. to June (photo by We only covered a small portion of the suitable habitat at Barbara Varnum- Hanford; therefore, we estimate the populations to num- Finney). Bottom ber tens of thousands. right: The species A population of more than 2,400 individuals was favors sand dunes discovered at Potholes in a new area to the north of a that aren’t entirely stabilized (photo by small population. It is the second largest known popula- David Zamora). tion of this species and is a significant discovery. Much of Bottom left: Clus- the sand dunes in the vicinity are covered with a crust of tered stems bear non-vascular plants so it will be important to watch this narrow, elongate population in the future years to see how well gray leaves (photo by cryptantha persists with this competition. Julie Bresnan). The other large population was documented on a mixture of public and private lands in the vicinity of Priest Rapids Dam. The population was estimated to be approxi- mately 1,000 individuals. Unfortunately, an intensive survey of Juniper Dunes failed to relocate a single plant, despite reports of it being abundant in the area prior to 1990. The area was visited the week follow- ing the surveys at the Hanford Reach, and yet appeared to be signifi- cantly drier and overrun with Mormon crickets. We speculated that there may be a localized multi- year drought occurring, Rare Care is grateful for financial support provided by generous donors. We rely on grants and donations to fund all program activities. We are also grateful for the support of volunteers who contributed more than 3,500 hours of service.

Linda Swartz Ruth Freeman Ken Swedberg Beth Mitchell Jeff Thorson and Marilee Henry Wanda Prather Jeff Walker Washington Native Plant Society, Walla Walla Subchapter of Columbia Basin Chapter Withey-Price Landscape & Design Robert and Mary Lee Virden $50 to $99 Lyle Anderson Ted Thomas Sue Carver Mickie Chamness and Duane Horton Kelly Platt Jason Clinch Brenda Cunningham and Tim Manns Patricia Danford Deupree Family Foundation Darcy Dauble Alan Sugino Wendy Descamp Lily Takatsuka Shelley Evans Sue Wheatley Charles Finkel Frosty Hollow Ecological Restoration Marvin and Suzanne Anderson Anne Goslin Anonymous Michael and Janka Hobbs Steven Clark Shaun Hubbard V. Lee Ellis Bob and Judy Kent Ron Klump Nancy and Andrew Rapin Calochortus macrocarpus var. maculosus Don Knoke Sarah Reichard (photo by Sarah Walker). Art Kruckeberg Kathleen Learned Volunteers report new sites Pam Camp Michael and Rebecca McGoodwin Charles Hyde, III, in honor of Otis Hyde Rae Meaney (continued from page 1) And then there it Jerry and Julie Jose Renee Miller was, a stone’s throw away—one pygmy Virginia King Barbara Milligan, in honor of Betty Swift saxifrage—fairly safe from threats, just Dan and Pat Montague Maureen Schmitz Mary Ann Simmons Brian and Bronwyn Scott tricky to find in a rocky habitat riddled Mani Soma David Selk with crevices and overhangs. Elizabeth Stanek This year volunteers found new Hally Swift, in honor of Betty Swift sites of the endangered sagebrush mar- James Adcock and Anne Otten Jeanie Taylor iposa-lily (Calochortus macrocarpus var. Elisabeth Bottler Brian Thomspon Julie Bresnan maculosus), the threatened Washington Thomas and Sally Cahill polemonium (Polemonium pectinatum) Earl and Tena Doan Jeanette Burkhardt and the sensitive common bluecup Joan Frazee Clara Burnett (Githopsis specularioides). Wenatchee Kyle Funakoshi Betsey Dickes larkspur (Delphinium viridescens) wasn’t Wendy Gibble Sharon Dunn spotted where it had been previously Catherine Hovanic and Bill Brookreson Peter Dunwiddie Gretchen Hull Dana Ericson documented, but it was found nearby in Wendy Lee Tom Guobis two new sites—a result of searching a Larry Loftis Dorothy Hudson wider area and holding the image of Wendy McClure Bob Jackson the species in mind while approaching Douglas and Suzanne Owens-Pike Barbara Kolar and Mark Fessler and departing the site. Lois Prestrud Helen Lau Also this year, one of The Moun- Ann Risvold Jennifer Purnell taineers instructors who provides navi- Cynthia Smith-Kuebel Susan Saul gation training to Rare Care volun- Seattle Garden Club Paul Slichter teers each year asked if he could assist The Boeing Company Fred Stark in monitoring! He teamed up with one of our volunteers to search some steep slopes on Orcas Island, and together Rare Care is grateful for support from the Miller Charitable Foundation, they counted 51 arctic aster (Eurybia Seattle Garden Club, Tacoma Garden Club, Center for Plant Conservation, merita) that had not been found during private organizations and individual donors. a previous search in 2012.