Constance's bittercress: a local endemic

Publication Type:

Magazine Article

Authors:

Baldwin, Calib

Source:

Sage Notes, Idaho Native Plant Society, Volume 20, Issue 4, p.8-9 (1998)

Call Number:

U98BAL01IDUS

Keywords:

Cardamine constancei

Abstract:

Constance's bittercress (Cardamine constancei) is a rare member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) that is found in small populations only along the Selway, Middle and North Forks of the Clearwater, St. Joe, and Coeur d' Alene Rivers of Northcentral Idaho. This plant is of particular interest not only for its rarity, but also because of its close association with large concentrations of over 50 coastal disjunct species, including deerfern (Blechnum spicant), Henderson' s sedge ( Carex hendersonii), varied-leaf collomia (Collomia heterophylla), flowering dogwood (Cornus nuttallii), dentate shooting star (Dodecatheon dentatum), Coast Range festuca (Festuca subuliflora), devil' s club (Oplopanax horridum), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), western starflower (Trientalis latifolia), and redwoods violet (Viola sempervirens). Cardamine is also associated with other rare plants including Case's corydalis (Corydalis caseana var. hastata), evergreen synthyris (Synthyris platycarpa), and Idaho barren strawberry (Waldsteinia idahoensis). Collectively this assemblage of coastal disjuncts and endemics is commonly referred to as the Clearwater refugium, and recent genetic research on Cardamine constancei has focused on trying to understand the dynamics and origins of this refugium.