Petition to list two Clark County rare plants under the Endangered Species Act

The Center for Biological Diversity will seek federal endangered species protection for two rare wildflowers with highly restricted habitats.

The Las Vegas bear poppy (Arctomecon californica) is threatened by gypsum mining,
unmanaged off-highway vehicle recreation, and illegal cattle grazing. The white-margined beardtongue (Penstemon albomarginatus) is threatened by Clark County’s plans to privatize public lands south of Las Vegas for subdivisions and industrial sprawl, as well as other factors.

The Las Vegas bear poppy has fuzzy leaves and delicate yellow flowers. It grows in soils with high gypsum content, primarily on public land surrounding Lake Mead, including in Gold Butte National Monument. It also grows in isolated patches in Arizona.

Penstemon albomarginatus has abundant pink flowers and unique white-fringed leaves and grows in wind-blown sandy soils. It stabilizes low sand dunes known as coppice dunes, which provide nesting and burrowing sites for wildlife. While it grows in isolated populations in California, Arizona, and Nye County, the most robust and essential population grows in and around Clark County’s Hidden Valley, which the county has proposed privatizing for development.

The Nevada Natural Heritage Program collects data on rare species to support the
US Fish and Wildlife Service’s listing process. If you have any sightings of white-margined beardtongue or Las Vegas bear poppy or any other rare plant species, please email Janel Johnson at jdjohnson@heritage.nv.gov. Alternately, photos can be submitted here on iNaturalist where the NNHP collector projects will automatically gather rare plant and animal observations within Nevada.

Thank you for helping us document our rare and endangered species.

Posted on April 3, 2019 04:04 PM by jdjohnson