Search / Plant Profile / Thysanocarpus conchuliferus

Plant Profile

Santa Cruz Island Lacepod (Thysanocarpus conchuliferus)

Photo Credit: Rick York and CPNS

Global Rank: G2 - Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Brassicaceae
State: CA
Nature Serve ID: 129427
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 09/01/2001

Description:

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus is a rare species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Santa Cruz Island fringepod. It is a delicate herb with a slender stem, usually 6-15 cm tall, and with narrow, lobed leaves. A dense cluster of small pink-lavender flowers blooms in March and April, followed by fruits with a rounded top, fringed with wings that are strongly curved towards the flat or concave lower side. [NatureServe]

Where is Santa Cruz Island Lacepod (Thysanocarpus conchuliferus) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus habitat is the coastal scrub on the rocky, windblown slopes and canyons of Santa Cruz island.

Distribution:

Thysanocarpus conchuliferus is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands of California, where has been recently observed at only one location; some years it is totally absent. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States, and a review by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in 2009 suggests it should remain on the list. [NatureServe]

States & Provinces:

Santa Cruz Island Lacepod can be found in California

Which CPC Partners conserve Santa Cruz Island Lacepod (Thysanocarpus conchuliferus)?

Santa Barbara 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

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden holds 10 accessions of Thysanocarpus conchuliferus in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 2594 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation (USDA-ARS) holds 1 accessions of Thysanocarpus conchuliferus in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 300 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has collected 11 seed accessions of Thysanocarpus conchuliferus from 5 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 158 maternal plants

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Endemic to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of southern California. Known from 14 sites based on herbarium collections, and reported as being abundant ""from the north shore to the southwest portion of the island"" in the early 1930s. However, surveys in 1980 only relocated 8 populations, in 1991 individuals were found at only 6 sites, and in 1993 no plants were found at any of the 14 known locations. Rooting by non-native, feral pigs was observed at all 14 sites. Besides pig rooting, competition with alien grasses is probably also a threat, especially in years with abundant rainfall. All the northern Channel Islands have suffered profound loss and degradation of their soils and changes in their plant communities due to large numbers of non-native mammals introduced to the islands starting in the early 1800's. A very small population of a few individuals was thought to be extant in 2000 (USFWS 2000).

01/01/2010

Soil loss, habitat alteration by alien mammals, native seabirds, vehicular traffic, overcollection for scientific or horticultural purposes, competition with alien plant taxa, the chance of random extinction. habitat alteration due to vehicular t

01/01/2010

One population, according to Wilken in 2001 proposal. Was once-recently-8 to 10 populations!