''Eriogonum longifolium'' var. ''harperi'', also known as Harper's buckwheat or Harper's umbrella plant, is a

dicot The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, ...

of the family ''

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants known Common name, informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The Botanical name, name is Basionym, based on the genus ''Polygonum'', ...

'', found in areas of nutrient-poor

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

soils in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. It lives inconspicuously in an immature vegetative stage for four or more years before developing a

flowering Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

stalk, then flowers and dies. It is listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the state of Tennessee. It has eleven small populations in Alabama and five in Tennessee but its survival in Kentucky is uncertain. According to a leading expert, Professor James L. Reveal of the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, its Kentucky population has been reportedly

extirpated Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

. Its 2006 Alabama Natural Heritage Program ranking was G4T2S1, demonstrating an opinion that it was "critically imperiled" in that state.

Plant communities

One of the larger ''E. longifolium'' var. ''harperi'' populations is found on TVA property in northern Alabama and is estimated to be over 700 plants. There the umbrella plants cohabit with prickly pear (''Opuntia'' spp.) and false aloe (''Manfreda virginica'') in an upland

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

cliff

plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

. Their foothold is attributed to human removal of competitors to allow a better view of the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

from one of the buildings on the property. Another northern Alabama population is found on a cedar glade site which is owned by the Alabama Nature Conservancy. This

is home to many other rare and endangered plants including Alabama glade cress (''Leavenworthia alabamica''), Alabama larkspur (''Delphinium alabamicum''), glade quillwort (''Isoëtes butleri''), lyrate bladderpod ('' Paysonia lyrata''), Nashville breadroot ('' Pediomelum subacaule''), prairie Indian plantain ('' Arnoglossum plantagineum''), Tennessee milk vetch ('' Astragalus tennesseensis''), and yellow sunnybell ('' Schoenolirion croceum'').

References

External resources

Alabama inventory list 2003 (PDF)-see page 47Tennessee endangered plant list from state.tn.us (PDF)-see page 15University of Tennessee Herbarium link with photos

USDA List of Tennessee state protected plants
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5389406 longifolium var. harperi Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of Alabama Flora of Tennessee Threatened flora of the United States

Plant communities

See also

References

External resources