Kentucky Gladecress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata)

Global Rank: T1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Threatened
Family: Brassicaceae
State: KY
Nature Serve ID: 149358
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata, or Kentucky Glade Cress, is a small (height = 2-4 inches) winter annual in the mustard family. Seeds germinate and grow into rosettes with lobed leaves on long, skinny stalks in the fall. Rosettes persist over the winter, then bloom between February and April. Kentucky Glade Cress has small (1/10 - 3/10 of an inch wide) white or light purple flowers. Seeds are produced in April and May, then the plant dies. Kentucky Glade Cress was listed as Federally Threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014. It received listing protection because of the loss of its habitat to things like development or roads, the degradation of its habitat by factors such as grazing and human-use, its extremely small range, low genetic diversity and small population sizes. (Jacobson 2013, Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission 2014, NatureServe 2018)

Where is Kentucky Gladecress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Kentucky Glade Cress is primarily found in limestone cedar glades, a type of shallow soiled, dry short-grass grassland. It is also found in similar anthropogenic habitats, such as lawns. (Jacobson 2013, NatureServe 2018)

Distribution:

Kentucky Glade Cress' range is restricted to Kentucky. Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2004 found that over the course of 14 years, 76% of occurrences had declined in quality or been lost. As of 2013, there were only 61 known occurrences, and 43 (70%) of those were deemed to be poor quality.
(Jacobson 2013, NatureServe 2018)

States & Provinces:

Kentucky Gladecress can be found in Kentucky

Which CPC Partners conserve Kentucky Gladecress (Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata)?

Missouri Botanical Garden

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

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