Cryptantha crassipes
Cryptantha crassipes is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Terlingua Creek cat's-eye. It is endemic to Brewster County, Texas, where it is known from only ten populations totaling about 5000 plants.[1] All of the occurrences are within a ten-kilometer radius.[2] This is a federally listed endangered species.
| Cryptantha crassipes | |
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| Species: | C. crassipes |
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| Cryptantha crassipes | |
Description
This is a perennial herb producing several erect stems reaching a maximum height around 25 centimeters. There is a clump of basal leaves around the stem bases. The herbage is covered in silvery soft and bristly hairs. The inflorescence is a head of yellow-throated white flowers.[2] The plants are often coated in a sooty black fungus.[1]
Distribution and habitat
This plant grows only on the Fizzle Flat lentil, a small geologic formation in the Terlingua Creek watershed just north of Big Bend National Park.[1][3] This lentil is a unique expanse of limestone rock which is rich in gypsum and bound with clay. The formation, which locals call a"moonscape"[3], is pale yellow in color because of its mineral makeup and about 50 feet thick.[4] The chalky rock breaks into plates and contains many fossils. The area is very dry and it receives full, hot sunlight.[1][2][5] The lentil is almost totally devoid of plant life; this species and other hardy plants, such as Castilleja elongata and Lycium berberioides, occur around the edge of the lentil.[1][2]
The rare plant is limited to a specific substrate. The area is affected by human activity in several ways. The land is all privately owned and unprotected. Off-road vehicles drive on the badlands, which are used both in the mining of bentonite and for access in the grazing of livestock in the area.[1][2]
References
- Cryptantha crassipes. Archived 2010-12-15 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
- Cryptantha crassipes. The Nature Conservancy.
- Cryptantha crassipes. Texas Parks and Wildlife.
- USGS. Geologic Unit: Fizzle Flat. National Geologic Map Database.
- USFWS. Final rule to list the plant Cryptantha crassipes (Terlingua Creek Cat’s-eye) as endangered. Federal Register September 30, 1991.
External links
Further reading
- Moon, C. G. (1953). Geology of Agua Fria Quadrangle, Brewster County, Texas. Geological Bulletin 64:2 151.