Search / Plant Profile / Argythamnia argothamnoides

Plant Profile

Blodgett's Wild Mercury (Argythamnia argothamnoides)

Global Rank: N/A
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Euphorbiaceae
State: FL
Nature Serve ID: 1027745
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Argythamnia blodgettii is an erect perennial that has a woody base and non-woody stems that are typically unbranched. Their hairy leaves are metallic blue-green to evergreen in color and folded along the midvein. Male and female flowers exist on the same plant year-round but in separate clusters, making the plant monoecious.

Where is Blodgett's Wild Mercury (Argythamnia argothamnoides) located in the wild?

Habitat:

This herb grows in pine rockland, rockland hammock, and coastal berm, particularly in open sunny gaps or edges. There are limited habitats remaining for Argythamnia blodgettii, owing largely to fire suppression as well as conversion of its habitat for commercial and/or residential use.

Distribution:

There are a limited number of A. blodgettii in Monroe and Miami-Dade Counties in South Florida. The healthiest populations are on managed lands on two of the Florida Keys. As of the 2007 Global Status Update, there were approximately 15-20 known occurrences and fewer than 10,000 individual plants. Unfortunately, most of its historical pine rockland habitat has been destroyed.

States & Provinces:

Blodgett's Wild Mercury can be found in Florida

Which CPC Partners conserve Blodgett's Wild Mercury (Argythamnia argothamnoides)?

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

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.

Conservation Actions

Katie Heineman

06/20/2023

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has conducted there conservation translocations of this species. Please see reintroduction registry for more details.

Tina Stanley

05/11/2023

According to a March 2023 extract of the Florida Plant Rescue Database, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden holds 2 accessions of Argythamnia blodgettii totalling approximately 7511 seeds representing 79 maternal lines.

10/13/2020

Fairchild currently has just two ex situ plants, however in 2018 we will be collecting seed, propagating more plants, and storing seed at Fairchild and NLGRP.

J. Possley

11/05/2017

Fairchild currently has just two ex situ plants, however in 2018 we will be collecting seed, propagating more plants, and storing seed at Fairchild and NLGRP.

J. Possley

11/05/2017

Populations in the Keys are threatened by storm surge and sea level rise. Habitat destruction is poised to impact plants at one Miami-Dade Preserve in 2018, for a road-widening project. Other threats include fire suppression and invasive species encroachment, especially for populations on unmanaged properties.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Argythamnia blodgettii is restricted to Miami-Dade and Monroe counties in southern Florida. The species grows in pine rockland, rockland hammock, and coastal berm, particularly in open sunny gaps or edges. The best remaining populations are on managed lands on two of the Florida Keys. There are approximately 15-20 known occurrences, and fewer than 10,000 individual plants. This species has a very limited habitat remaining, due to conversion of its habitat for commercial and residential uses and due to fire suppression. Fire supppression and exotic species invasion are immediate threats to this species.