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Plant Profile

Bracted Twistflower (Streptanthus bracteatus)

This is a shot of the pink-flowering plant. Photo Credit: San Antonio Botanical Garden

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Brassicaceae
State: TX
Nature Serve ID: 161715
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 02/09/1992

Description:

This beautiful plant is found in Texas Hill country. Once scattered throughout south-central Texas, this species is now thought to be rare, and has been considered for federal status. The Bracted twistflower is an herbaceous, somewhat succulent waxy annual. It produces beautiful lavender-purple flowers from spring to early summer. Its name is derived from the fact that, located at the bottom of each flower stalk, is a tiny bract. This unique feature distinguishes the species from others in the genus. Indigeneous people and european settlers utilized related species as a food source. (Damude and Poole 1990).

Where is Bracted Twistflower (Streptanthus bracteatus) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Found in a number of varied habitats on thin clay soils in the semi-arid to mesic woodland habitat of the Balcones Canyonlands region of the Edwards Plateau. Proximity appears to be one of the few strict requirements for the species. Most of the known populations occur in Texas Hill Country. (Damude and Poole 1990)

Distribution:

Balcones Escarpment in the Edwards Plateau of south central Texas (Damude and Poole 1990)

States & Provinces:

Bracted Twistflower can be found in Texas

Which CPC Partners conserve Bracted Twistflower (Streptanthus bracteatus)?

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

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

Jonathan Flickinger

10/25/2023

There are currently over 17,000 documented wild-origin seeds from at least 7 populations in the seed bank of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. These seeds were collected in Bexar, Hays, Medina, and Travis Counties between 2001 and 2013. In 2004, the Wildflower Center entered an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, City of Austin, Travis County, and the Lower Colorado River Authority to propagate and bank seeds of bracted twistflower, engage in public outreach and education on conservation activities, and coordinate efforts to scout and monitor populations. The species has not persisted in cultivation at the Wildflower Center. Bracted twistflower, which had been a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act since 2011, was listed as threatened in May 2023.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Endemic to south-central Texas, with many of the occurrences in rapidly developing urban areas. Several sites have been extirpated by housing developments. Browsing pressure has increased due to the introduction of domestic and exotic animals as well as an overabundance of white-tail deer, particularly in urban areas.

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Deer browse Residential development Habitat alteration by fire suppression (Damude and Poole 1990)

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Current population trends are unknown. In 1990 there were eight known sites containing 14 population clusters with 3 to over 500 plants per population. (Damude and Poole 1990)

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

David Benjamin Zippin, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, studied herbivory and the population biology of this species (Zippin 1997).

Cindy Barrett

01/01/2010

Monitoring and surveys Response to disturbance