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Plant Profile

Texas Golden Gladecress (Leavenworthia texana)

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Brassicaceae
State: TX
Nature Serve ID: 137823
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 02/09/1992

Description:

A pretty little winter annual less than 1 dm tall. Leaves in a basal rosette, lyrately lobed with a large terminal lobe and several smaller lateral lobes, to about 5 cm long, glabrous, the terminal lobe usually wider than long, the margin usually angularly toothed. Flowers borne on scapes 3-9 cm or, later in the season, in racemes on lateral decumbent branches; sepals 4, 4-5 mm long; petals 4, bright golden-yellow with a slightly darker base, narrowly obovate, 7-10 mm long, emarginate at the apex (with aging); stamens 6; style 2-3.5 mm long. Fruit a silique flattened parallel to the septum, erect, 1.5-3 cm long and about 5 mm wide, with sinuous rather than straight margins (somewhat constricted between the seeds), containing several orbicular seeds 3.5-4.5 mm in diameter (Correll & Johnston 1979; Mahler 1987). U.S Army officer, Dr. M. C. Leavenworth, discovered the Texas Golden Glade Cress and another rare endemic, White Bladderpod, Lesquerella pallida, on small prairies near San Augustine, Texas in the 1830s. Both Texas Golden Glade Cress and White Bladderpod only occur in the wild on shallow calciumcontaining soils on ironstone outcrops of unusual geological regions called the Weches Formation. The Weches Formation is composed of bands of ancient marine sediments that lie parallel to the Gulf Coast from Sabine to Frio Counties. In East Texas, these alkaline \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"islands\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" of soil contrast the surrounding acid soils of the Pineywoods. The thin top layer of these alkaline sediments contains fossilized calcium-containing marine shells and the mineral glauconite. The glades remain saturated during rainy periods and then become very dry during the heat of the summer (W.F. Mahler, 1981). The seeds of these species normally begin to germinate on the glades during fall rains and the plants over winter as small tap-rooted plantlets. FLOWER PHENOLIOGY: Flowering and fruiting late February to April or May

Where is Texas Golden Gladecress (Leavenworthia texana) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Occurs within oak-hickory-pine forests within the Pineywoods of the Coastal Plain region of East Texas. L. aurea var. texana is found within these forests on rocky outcrops of an unusual geological region called the Weches formation. The Weches formation is a band of ancient marine sediments that lies parallel to the Gulf Coast from Sabine to Frio Counties. In East Texas, these alkaline \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"islands\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" of soil contrast the surrounding acid soils in this region of the Pineywoods. The thin top layer of these alkaline sediments contains fossilized calcium, potassium and magnesium-containing marine shells and covers a layer of grayish-green impermeable glauconite clay that oxidizes to a reddish-brown color. This clay traps water and remains saturated during rainy periods and becomes very dry during the heat of the summer. The soils of the Weches outcrops are of the Trawick and Nacogdoches series (R. Turner 2001).

Distribution:

Endemic to east Texas. Sabine and San Augustine counties in Texas; experimentally introduced to one site in Nacogdoches County.

States & Provinces:

Texas Golden Gladecress can be found in Texas

Which CPC Partners conserve Texas Golden Gladecress (Leavenworthia texana)?

Mercer Botanic Gardens

Conservation Actions

09/18/2020

Populations along roadways are monitored and seeds are harvested as needed (Nemec, K., 2004). Population Status

09/18/2020

Germination studies underway at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens Mercer, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, TX and the National Seed Storage Laboratory in Ft. Collins, CO maintain seed banks for this species

09/18/2020

09/18/2020

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Endemic to the Weches Formation in Eastern Texas, currently extant from three natural populations, each less than 500 individuals. This habitat is being grazed, mined, converted to agriculture, and invaded by non-native and weedy native species.

David C. Berkshire

01/01/2010

Open pit mining of glauconite for road surface material (""green rock"") is the most severe and permanently destructive threat to Texas Golden Glade Cress habitat (Turner 2001). Also extremely vulnerable to: Trampling, overgrazing, herbicides for treatm

David C. Berkshire

01/01/2010

4 sites, numbers range from a few hundred to a few thousand plants per site

David C. Berkshire

01/01/2010

David C. Berkshire

01/01/2010

Representatives from The Nature Conservancy (Nacogdoches, San Antonio, Silsbee, Texas City) USFWS (Clear Lake, Nacogdoches); The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Nacogdoches; Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens, Humble and Stephen F. Austin State Univ. and the Pineywoods Native Plant Center in Nacogdoches prepared the Conservation Area Plan for the San Augustine Glades in March 2003 (Halstead, L., 2003). Target species included the Texas Golden Glade Cress and White Bladderpod and Texas Trillium. Recovery goals for the Texas Golden Glade Cress and White Bladderpod include securing at least 12 populations of ~1,600 individuals per population for each. Some of the current populations are managed in cooperation with owners of the land that the plants occur on. Current management includes removal of brush and minimizing grazing pressure on Texas Golden Glade Cress. Populations along roadways are monitored and seeds are harvested as needed (Nemec, K., 2004).

David C. Berkshire

01/01/2010

Basic biological/ecological studies of the plant to identify habitat requirements for reintroductions. Selection of reintroduction sites maintenance of suitable sites. Encourage landowners to preserve existing populations. Controlled burns and targeted herbicide treatments limited to July-October should be conducted wherever possible. Selected logging around populations to increase its range with concurrent management of competitive vegetation. Controlled grazing may be utilized to suppress competing vegetation where possible. Surveys for unknown populations. Continue monitoring sites.

David C. Berkshire

01/01/2010

Expansion of seed bank. Continued selection of potential reintroduction sites. Continued research to determine life history, pollination and germination requirements.