An Annotated List of Plant Taxa Endemic to the Lone Starstate

No Placebut Texas:

An Annotated List of Plant Taxa Endemic to the Lone StarState

William R. Carr

The Nature Conservancy of Texas

Incomplete Working Draft, November 2009

Provided below is a list of all plant taxa thought to be endemic to, i.e., found only in, the State of Texas. This distinction has no biological significance, since political boundaries do not correspond to biotic and abiotic forces that effect plant distribution. Nonetheless, this list is offered to satisfy the curiosity of those who wish to know, for whatever reason, which of the state's 5500 to 6000 plant taxa grow only in Texas. Plant taxa that are endemic to the each of the 11 ecoregions that are found, in whole or (mostly) in part in Texas, are available from The Nature Conservancy in other venues.

A list of Texas endemics is not a new idea: two similar unpublished lists have been generated in the past. The first, entitled Endemic Vascular Plants of Texas, probably dates from the mid 1970's. It came to the Texas Natural Heritage Program from the files of the long-defunct RarePlantStudyCenter at the University of Texas at Austin. Its authorship is unknown, but legend has it that it was the work of a student of Dr. Chester Rowell, a student who compiled it by painstakingly thumbing through the Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas (Correll & Johnston, 1970) and writing down every taxon described as endemic to Texas. The second effort was a list of target species for a project entitled Phytogeographical Investigation of Texas Endemics (Amos, 1991). This list was compiled by Dr. Bonnie Amos of AngeloStateUniversity. Its concept was broader, including taxa thought to be endemic to major natural biological regions contained mostly within the state as well as most of the traditional political endemics.

All of the taxa from the preceding efforts were originally included in this list. Many were deleted on the basis of new information documenting occurrence beyond the boundaries of the state. Others were deleted for taxonomic reasons, as new information made it clear that some of our so-called endemics were not distinct from taxa of other regions. (See "Excluded Taxa" at end of document.) Conversely, a few recently-described endemics are included here for the first time.

This is a work in progress. County distributions were compiled over the years from voucher specimens as well as a wide spectrum of published and unpublished literature. However, those sources are not cited directly in this document. Before any such list can be published, voucher specimens for each county must be transcribed. That task has not been undertaken as yet, in part because the ongoing Flora of Texas project offers the prospect that such information will be available electronically in a few years. For the meantime, county records represented by vouchers at the PlantResourcesCenter at the University of Texas at Austin are flagged with asterisks. The fact that other records are not documented herein is unacceptable and will be corrected in the future.

Only a few particularly pertinent literature references are cited. Those providing an illustration of the taxon in question are flagged with asterisks.

PTERIDOPHYTES

Isoetaceae Quillwort Family

Isoetes lithophila Pfeiffer. Rock quillwort. Sand and gravel in shallow water of ephemeral pools on essentially barren granite and gneiss outcrops on the Llano Uplift. Burnet*, Gillespie, Llano* and Mason counties. Ref: Correll, 1956*; Correll & Correll, 1975*; Flora of North America Committee, 1993; Rowell, 1983; Walters & Wyatt, 1982.

ANGIOSPERMS

Monocots

Agavaceae Agave Family

Nolina arenicola Correll. Sand sacahuista. Windblown Quaternary sand in dune area east of Van Horn; also in shrublands on steep Permian limestone slopes in the GuadalupeMountains. Culberson, Hudspeth and perhaps El Paso counties. Ref.: Burgess & Northington, 1981; Correll, 1968; Poole, 1989b; Powell, 1998*.

Nolina lindheimeriana (Scheele) Wats. Lindheimer's nolina. Grasslands and open juniper-oak woodlands on dry rocky limestone slopes, mostly on the EdwardsPlateau, but ranging north on the Lampasas Cutplain to Bell and Somervell Counties and south to at least FayetteCounty. Bandera*, Bell, Bexar*, Comal*, Edwards*, Gillespie*, Fayette*, Kendall*, Kerr*, Lampasas*, Somervell, Travis* and Williamson* counties. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Lynch, 1981*.

Yucca cernua Keith. Nodding yucca. Known from a six square kilometer area in west-central NewtonCounty and adjacent eastern JasperCounty, where it is restricted to open or partially shaded upland sites on brownish acid clays of the Redco Series (Keith, 2003).

Yucca necopina Shinners. Glen Rose yucca. Grasslands on sandy soils on terraces of the BrazosRiver in Hood and Somervell counties and in deep sands in Parker and Tarrant counties (Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999). Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*.

Yucca pallida McKelvey. Pale yucca. Rocky limestone slopes primarily on the Lampasas Cutplain and in the Cross Timbers, with reports from Bosque, Brown, Coryell, Dallas, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant and Wise counties; the report from Travis County in Vines (1960) is doubtful. Reports from the Blackland Prairie are probably from areas of shallow stony soils rather than deep heavy clays. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Tull & Miller, 1991; Vines, 1960.

Yucca rupicola Scheele. Twistleaf yucca. The common yucca of the EdwardsPlateau and Llano Uplift, occurring in almost every imaginable habitat. Bandera, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Burnet, Comal, Dallas, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Llano, Real, San Saba, Somervell, Travis, Uvalde and Val Verde counties. According to Mahler (1988), Yucca rupicola ranges no further north than BellCounty, which would seem to indicate that reports from Dallas and Somervell counties may be based on specimens of Yucca pallida, another Texas endemic. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Enquist, 1987a*; Lynch, 1981*; Rickett, 1970*; Vines, 1960*.

Yucca tenuistyla Trel. White-rim yucca. Southern EdwardsPlateau and South Texas Plains; county distribution unknown due to lack of voucher specimens. A poorly known species, submerged by some authorities (e.g., Vines, 1960) within the more widespread Yucca constricta.

Commelinaceae Spiderwort Family

Tradescantia edwardsiana Tharp. Plateau spiderwort. Locally common in woodlands and forests in mesic canyons and on alluvial terraces in parts of the Lampasas Cutplain, but rare on much of the EdwardsPlateau. Bandera*, Bell*, Bexar*, Brown*, Caldwell*, Collin (Diggs et al., 1999), Coryell*, Dallas (Diggs et al., 1999), Fannin*, Hays, Lamar*, Medina*, Palo Pinto*, Travis*, Uvalde* and Val Verde* counties. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Tharp, 1932*.

Tradescantia humilis Rose. Texas spiderwort. Numerous habitats in sandy to loamy soils over much of southern and eastern Texas. Austin*, Atascosa*, Bandera*, Bastrop*, Bee*, Bexar*, Brazoria*, Brown (Diggs et al., 1999), Burleson*, Dallas (Diggs et al., 1999), Dimmit*, Fayette*, Frio*, Goliad*, Gonzales*, Guadalupe*, Harris*, Hays*, Karnes*, Kenedy*, Kleberg*, Lamar (Diggs et al., 1999), Matagorda*, Newton*, Nueces*, Robertson*, San Patricio*, Travis*, Uvalde*, Victoria*, Webb*, Williamson* and Wilson* counties. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Rickett, 1970*.

Tradescantia pedicellata Celarier [Tradescantia X diffusa Bush]. Granite spiderwort. Mostly in grasslands and among shrubs on rocky slopes and flats on sandy to gravelly soils derived from granite, gneiss and other igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Llano Uplift. Burnet*, Llano* and Mason* counties; a report from Blanco Co. is somewhat anomalous. Ref.: Celarier, 1956; Enquist, 1987a*; MacRoberts, 1978.

Tradescantia subacaulis Bush. Stemless spiderwort. Grasslands and woodland margins, mostly on sandy soils, ranging across much of the eastern half of Texas. Anderson*, Aransas*, Atascosa*, Bastrop*, Bexar*, Brazos*, Brooks*, Caldwell*, Calhoun*, Chambers*, Dallas*, Denton*, Erath*, Fayette*, Fort Bend*, Freestone*, Gonzales*, Grayson*, Henderson*, Hidalgo*, Kenedy*, Kleberg*, Lavaca*, Lee*, Leon*, Liberty*, Limestone*, Medina*, Milam*, Navarro (Diggs et al., 1999), Refugio*, Robertson*, San Patricio*, San Saba*, Tarrant*, Travis*, Washington* and Willacy* counties. Ref.: Anderson & Woodson, 1935; Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Jones, 1977.

Cyperaceae Sedge Family

CarexedwardsianaBridges & Orzell. Canyon sedge. Duff-covered loamy soils in mostly deciduous woodlands on rocky slopes in mesic limestone canyons. Bandera*, Bell*, Bexar, Blanco, Comal, Coryell*, Hays*, Kendall*, Medina*, Real, Travis and Uvalde* counties. Ref.: Bridges & Orzell, 1989*; Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Naczi & Bryson, 1990.

Cyperus onerosus M. C. Johnston. Dune flatsedge. Moist to wet sand in depressions among active or partially stabilized sand dunes in Andrews, Ward and Winkler counties. Ref.: Carr, 1991; Johnston, 1964a; Warnock, 1974*.

Eleocharis austrotexana M. C. Johnston. South Texas spikesedge. Miscellaneous wetlands at scattered locations on the coastal plain. Atascosa, Cameron*, Guadalupe*, Kenedy, Kleberg, Liberty, Matagorda, San Patricio and Wharton* counties (Johnston, 1964; ASTC, 1983; TEX-LL, 1997). Ref.: Johnston, 1964b.

Liliaceae Lily Family

Allium canadense L. var. ecristatum M. E. Jones. Crestless wild-onion. Poorly drained sites on sandy substrates within coastal prairies of the Coastal Bend area. Goliad, Matagorda, Nueces, Refugio and San Patricio counties (Ownbey, 1950; TAES, 1998; TEX-LL, 1998); a collection attributed to BeeCounty was probably taken from a site in San Patricio County (Ownbey, 1950). Ref: Cheatham, Johnston & Marshall, 1995*; Jones, 1977; Ownbey, 1950.

Allium coryi M. E. Jones. Cory's onion; Sperry's yellow onion. A variety of habitats in Brewster*, Jeff Davis*, Pecos*, Presidio* and Terrell* counties. Ref.: Cheatham, Johnston & Marshall, 1995*; Henrickson & Johnston, in prep.; Ownbey, 1950; Rickett, 1970*.

Allium elmendorfii M. Ownbey. Elmendorf onion. Grasslands and other open habitats on deep loose sands. Atascosa, Bee, Bexar, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Kenedy, Llano, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio and Wilson counties. Ref.: Cheatham, Johnston & Marshall, 1995*; Ownbey, 1950.

Allium perdulce S. V. Fraser var. sperryi M. Ownbey. Sperry's pink onion. Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Presidio and Reeves counties. Ref.: Cheatham, Johnston & Marshall, 1995*; Ownbey, 1950.

Allium runyonii M. Ownbey. Runyon's onion. Open areas on deep sandy soils. Mostly in South Texas. Brooks*, Duval*, Goliad, Jim Hogg, Kenedy*, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio*, Webb, Willacy* and Zapata* counties. Ref.: Cheatham, Johnston & Marshall, 1995*; Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Hill, 1982; Ownbey, 1950.

Cooperia jonesii Cory [Zephyranthes jonesii (Cory) Traub]. Jones' rainlily. Bee, Cameron, Goliad, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio and Victoria counties (Correll & Johnston, 1970). Correll & Johnston (1970) speculated that this might be a hybrid between Zephyranthes pulchella and Cooperia drummondii.

Cooperia smallii Alex. Small's rainlily. Reported only from CameronCounty. Correll & Johnston (1970) speculated that this might be a hybrid between Zephyranthes pulchella and Cooperia drummondii.

Cooperia traubiiHayward. Traub's rainlily. Moist soils in seasonal swales in southeast Texas, including (at least) Aransas, Calhoun, Colorado, Galveston and Refugio counties. Ref.: Jones, 1977; Niehaus, Ripper & Savage, 1984*.

Echeandia chandleri (Greenm. & Thomps.) M. C. Johnston [Anthericum chandleri Greenm. & Thomps.] Lila de las lomas. Cameron, Kleberg and Nueces counties, in nonsaline clay in coastal prairie grassland remnants and in unshaded openings in subtropical woodlands or shrublands and in windblown saline clay on lomas at mouth of Rio Grande. Villareal Q. (1994) reported Echeandia chandleri to be common in valleys and on lower slopes in a portion of southeastern Coahuila that lies at an elevation between 1200 and 2350 meters; the species is retained as a Texas endemic pending a taxonomic assessment of the Coahuila material. Ref.: Cruden, 1981; Cruden, 1993; Poole, 1985; Richardson, 1995*.

Echeandia texensis Cruden. GreenIsland echeandia. Lomas along the Gulf coast in CameronCounty (Cruden 1999).

Zephyranthes pulchella J. G. Sm. Showy zephyr-lily. Seasonally wet areas on the coastal plain of South Texas. Cameron*, Frio*, Hidalgo*, Karnes, Kleberg, Nueces*, Starr, Webb and Wilson counties.

Zephyranthes refugiensis F. B. Jones. Refugio rainlily. Open swales on tight sandy loam. Goliad, Refugio and San Patricio counties. Ref.: Jones, 1961; Jones, 1977.

Orchidaceae Orchid Family

Spiranthes parksii Correll. Navasota ladies'-tresses. Margins of post oak woodlands in areas where edaphic factors such as high aluminum content or hydrologic factors such as a winter-perched water table limit competing vegetation. Brazos, Burleson, Fayette, Freestone, Grimes, Jasper, Leon, Madison, Milam, Robertson and Washington counties. Ref.: Catling & McIntosh, 1979; Mahler, 1980g; Poole & Riskind, 1987*; Wilson & Ajilvsgi, 1983.

Triphora trianthophora (Sw.) Rydb. var. texana P. M. Brown & R. B. Pike. Texas three-birds orchid. Known only from HoustonCounty, where it occurs in the sparse ground layer of a dense stand of hardwoods and pines along an intermittent drainage (Brown & Pike, 2006).

Poaceae Grass Family

Bouteloua kayi Warnock. Kay's grama. Limestone outcrops and gravelly soils on desert flats in a small portion of BrewsterCounty. Ref.: Powell, 1994; Warnock, 1955*.

Bromus texensis (Shear.) Hitchc. Texas brome. Various habitats on the coastal plain and EdwardsPlateau. Aransas*, Bexar*, Duval, Goliad, Jim Wells*, Karnes, McMullen, Nueces*, Refugio, San Patricio* and Travis counties. Ref.: Gould, 1975*; Silveus, 1933*; Wagnon, 1952.

Chloris texensis Nash. Texas windmillgrass. Relatively bare areas in coastal prairie grassland remnants on sandy to sandy loam soils. Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Nueces and Refugio counties, with questionable reports from Brazos and Hidalgo counties. Ref.: Gould & Box, 1965*; Silveus, 1933*.

Digitaria texana Hitchc. [including Digitaria runyonii Hitchc.] Texas crabgrass. Grasslands on deep sandy soils on the coastal plain. Brooks, Calhoun, Kenedy, Nueces, San Patricio and Willacy counties. Ref.: Gould & Box, 1965*; Gould, 1975; Lonard, 1993.

Muhlenbergia involuta Swallen. Canyon muhly; hybrid muhly. Rocky slopes in openly wooded limestone canyons; sometimes along creekbottoms, mostly on the EdwardsPlateau. Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Edwards, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Medina and Travis counties. Supposedly of hybrid origin (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri x Muhlenbergia reverchonii). Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Gould, 1975*; Silveus, 1933*; Swallen, 1932.

Panicum nodatum Hitch. & Chase [Dichanthelium nodatum (Hitch. & Chase) Gould]. Sarita dichanthelium. Mostly on deep sandy soils of coastal barrier islands, the South Texas Sand Sheet, and the Post Oak belt on Eocene Sands in the northern part of the South Texas Plains. Aransas, Atascosa, Bastrop, Bexar, Brooks, Caldwell, Calhoun, Colorado, Gonzales, Karnes, Kenedy, Kleberg, Lavaca, Nueces, Refugio, Robertson, Victoria and Wilson counties (TEX-LL, Feb 2001; McAlister, 1999). Also in Mexico? (See Silveus, 1933.) Ref.: Gould & Box, 1965*; Lonard, 1993*; Silveus, 1933*.

Setaria firmula (Hitchc. & Chase) Pilger [Panicum firmulum Hitchc. & Chase]. Knotgrass. South Texas Sand Sheet and other sandy areas of the South Texas Plains. Hidalgo, Jim Wells, San Patricio and Willacy counties. Ref.: Gould, 1975*; Lonard, 1993; Silveus, 1933*.

Sporobolus tharpii Hitchcock. Padre Island dropseed. Deep sandy soils of coastal dunes and the South Texas Sand Sheet. Aransas*, Brazoria*, Cameron*, Harris*, Kenedy*, Matagorda, San Patricio* and Willacy* counties (TEX-LL, 2002; GH). Ref.: Gould & Box, 1965*; Gould, 1975*; Lonard, 1993*; Silveus, 1933*.

Tridens buckleyanus (L. H. Dewey) Nash [Triodia buckleyana (L. H. Dewey) Vasey]. Buckley tridens. Juniper-oak woodlands on rocky limestone slopes on the southern and eastern EdwardsPlateau and Lampasas Cutplain. Bandera*, Bexar, Comal*, Hays*, Kendall*, Kinney, Lampasas*, Medina, Real, San Saba, Travis* and Uvalde counties. Ref.: Gould, 1975; Silveus, 1933*.

Tridens congestus (L. H. Dewey) Nash [Triodia congesta L. H. Dewey]. Pink tridens. Blackland and coastal prairies, often in disturbed or early-successional sites. Aransas*, Bastrop*, Bexar*, Calhoun*, Dallas*, DeWitt*, Goliad*, Grayson (Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999), Kleberg*, Leon*, Navarro*, Nueces*, San Patricio*, Tarrant* and Travis* counties. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Gould, 1975*; Silveus, 1933*.

Vaseyochloa multinervosa Hitchcock. Texasgrass. Grasslands and woodland margins on deep sandy soils of coastal South Texas and the post oak belt on Eocene sands. Aransas, Brooks, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, Uvalde and Willacy counties (TAES, 1998; TEX-LL, 1997). Ref.: Hitchcock, 1950*; Lonard, 1993*; Silveus, 1933*.

Willkommia texana Hackel var. texana. Texas willkommia. Mostly in sparsely vegetated shortgrass patches within taller prairies on alkaline or saline soils on the Coastal Plain of southeast and south Texas. Brazoria, Bee, Calhoun, Cameron, Harris, Kenedy, Kleberg, Refugio and San Patricio counties (Hill, 1982b; TEX-LL, 1997; US); the type specimen is from Ellis County. Plants of the ParanáBasin of northern Argentina (Hill, 1982b) are presumably all var. stolonifera. Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Gould, 1975*; Hill, 1982; Silveus, 1933*.

Zizania texana Hitchcock. Texas wild-rice. Known only from a short segment of the San MarcosRiver in Hays County, Texas. Ref.: Gould, 1975*; Poole & Riskind, 1977*; Silveus, 1933*.

Potamogetonaceae Pondweed Family

Potamogeton clystocarpus Fern. Little Aguja pondweed. Submersed aquatic known only from quiet seepage pools in Little Aguja Creek in the DavisMountains of JeffDavisCounty. Ref.: Correll & Correll, 1975*; Fernald, 1932; Haynes, 1974; Poole & Riskind, 1977*; Rowell, 1983.

Smilacaceae Greenbriar Family

Smilax renifolia Small. Kidneyleaf greenbriar. A poorly understood species thought to be endemic to canyon woodlands of the EdwardsPlateau. Kartesz (1994) and Jones, Wipff & Montgomery (1997) continue to recognize this taxon; others, such as Walter Holmes (who annotated all material at TEX-LL to Smilax bona-nox), do not.

Dicots

Acanthaceae Acanthus Family

Justicia wrightii Gray. Wright's justicia. Desert grasslands on limestone substrates. Brewster, Pecos and Val Verde counties. Ref.: Wasshausen, 1966.

Ruellia drummondiana Gray. [Submerged, perhaps through clerical error, in Ruellia davisiorum Tharp & Barkley by Hatch et al. (1990); still recognized by most authorities.] Drummond's ruellia. Wooded mesic limestone canyons, creekbanks and river terraces, mostly on the EdwardsPlateau. Bandera*, Bell*, Bexar*, Bosque, Comal*, Dallas, Gillespie, Gonzales*, Guadalupe*, Hays*, Kerr*, Llano*, McLennan*, Travis*, Uvalde*, Williamson* and counties (Turner, 1991); also Hamilton (Diggs et al., 1999) and Zapata (source?). Ref.: Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999*; Enquist, 1987a*; Long, 1966*; Tharp & Barkley, 1949; Wasshausen, 1966.

Aizoaceae

Sesuvium trianthemoides Correll. Texas sea-purslane; roughseed sea-purslane. Known only from the type collection taken in 1947 from "dunes" at an unspecified location in KenedyCounty (Correll, 1966). Ref.: Correll, 1966b; Correll & Correll, 1975*.