''Braya longii'', common name Long's Braya or Long's northern rockcress, is a small,

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

, arctic-alpine flowering plant that grows only in the cool, wet and windy climate of the coastal limestone barrens of northern

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

. It is a narrow endemic, found in only five populations within a range of 6 km, and in one isolated population 14 km to the south, all in the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle ( ; ) is a waterway in eastern Canada, that separates Labrador from the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is located in the southeast of the ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

on the extreme northwest portion of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

Description

''Braya longii'' is a small scapous (flower-stalk grows directly from the ground)

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

, with basal leaves that are fleshy and greyish-green to bluish in colour. It stands erect at a height of 1–10 cm. It is an obligate calciphile, meaning that it requires calcium-rich soil, and grows in limestone substrate disturbed by either natural ( frost heave,

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

or water erosion) or

anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...

processes. The plant has a deep

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

for anchorage and moisture access, and dies back to the crown in winter. The flowers are each connected to a central scape on stems often with a single leaf, and, like all members of the mustard family, each flower has four tall and two short

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s. White, four-petaled flowers, each with four oval, green to purple-tinged

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s arranged in a

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

, have claws that are usually tinged with bluish- or reddish-violet. Leaves are linear- spatulate, with pointed ends, and measure 1–4 cm in length, 1–3 mm in width.

Conservation status

''Braya longii'' was listed as endangered under the Canadian '' Species at Risk Act'' in 1997 and the Newfoundland and Labrador ''Endangered Species Act'' in 2002. Its principal threat is

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

due to extensive limestone

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

ing, road construction and community development.

Off-road vehicle An off-road vehicle (ORV), also known as an off-highway vehicle (OHV), overland vehicle or adventure vehicle, is a type of transportation specifically engineered to navigate unpaved roads and surfaces. These include trails, forest roads, and ...

use also threatens the plant's habitat, as do road and utility maintenance and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

. Survival and reproduction are threatened by a non-native herbivorous insect, the diamondback moth, and three microbial pathogens.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15537536 longii Flora of Newfoundland Endemic flora of Canada