Only in the Ozarks

It seems unfair that such a rare, lovely flower was given the unflattering name of "bladderpod." Especially since Missouri bladderpod (Lesquerella filiformis Rollins) is a plant of considerable distinction. Sixty-one locations in Missouri and just two in Arkansas are the only places in the world where this plant grows.

Its beauty is distinctive, too. Canary yellow flowers rise from soft, sea foam green stems. The leaves at the base of the stems are shaped like spatulas and grow narrower at the top of the plant. The flowers bloom in April or May, giving way to a seed capsule-the "bladderpod." It dries, splits and opens about four weeks after flowering. The seeds nestle in the ground and wait-sometimes for many years-to germinate.

Missouri bladderpod's highest distinction, however, comes from the fact that it is a rare success story in the otherwise gloomy epic of endangered species. Just last year, its status improved from federally endangered to federally threatened. That means it has moved off the list that includes such imperiled creatures as the condor (76 left in the world) and manatee (1,850 remaining) to the threatened species list. Here, it is in the company of bald eagles, Niangua darters and many other embattled species, but species whose populations are inclining upward. The future of threatened species is still grave, but not as dire as those on the endangered list.

When officials placed Missouri bladderpod on the federal list of endangered species in 1984, biologists knew of just 11 places where it grew. Even before settlement, it probably never grew outside of southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas. Heavy livestock grazing, the end of natural fires and the development of towns and subdivisions almost wiped out the bladderpod. By the 1980s biologists realized it could vanish from the planet completely if people didn't do something to save its fragile and rare habitat: limestone glades.

Glades in Missouri are dry, treeless areas with shallow, loose soil. They are rocky places, usually covered with exposed slabs, as well as loose chunks of rock. Glades are named after their predominant rock feature, such as igneous, dolomite or limestone. Missouri bladderpod is found only on limestone glades in just four Missouri counties-Dade, Greene, Lawrence and Christian. They share their limestone glade habitat with collared lizards, fence lizards and two kinds of prickly pear cactus-the only cactus that grows in Missouri.

Rocky Barrens Conservation Area, where large numbers of bladderpods now grow, is home to one of the largest limestone glades in the state. "Several years ago, we looked at original government land surveys for this area done in the 1830s," explains Mike Skinner, a regional biologist who worked on the restoration project for five years. "They describe this place as hilly and broken, covered with ledges of limestone. We've been working to restore our areas so they match the descriptions found in those old surveys."

Restoring glades on Rocky Barrens and other public lands means reducing or eliminating livestock grazing, cutting down cedar trees that have overgrown many of the glades and burning the glades in late summer after the plants are done blooming. Of all these human interventions-or management practices-bringing fire back to the glades has been key.

Land managers set fire to the glades in late summer. Heat from the fire, warm sun hitting the exposed, blackened ground or nutrients released from fire could all contribute to germination of the seeds-not just of bladderpods, but of many other plants, too. Bladderpod seeds germinate in October. The plants sprout and spend the winter as a "rosette." Rosettes are about the size of a quarter and grow flat and close to the ground. They stay fairly green all winter.

"Plants have an amazing variety of trigger mechanisms to start germination," explains Skinner. "There are probably some we haven't discovered yet." Geocarpon is another glade species that blooms early and relies on warm spring temperatures to trigger germination. Even smoke can be a germination trigger for some plants.

Bladderpod seeds respond to heat, but there also is evidence they respond to other disturbances of the soil. For example, they can survive in areas where a few cattle at a time graze and eat, and they sometimes grow up in the tracks left by a bulldozer or in a place that's just been brush-hogged. "Disturbance" seems to help the bladderpod along.

Creating "disturbance" at Rocky Barrens initially leaves the area looking bleak. Crews set fire to the ground cover and to piles of felled cedar trees. After a burn, they're left with a place affectionately referred to as "ground zero." Everything is charred black and spindly, except for a few chinquapin oaks. "It's pretty shocking to see this," says Skinner, "and to be honest, it worried me at first-it looked so awful. We put signs up to explain to visitors what we were doing."

The sooty surface belies what's happening underground. Bladderpods, you might say, love a warm fire. After burning, they are often the first sign of anything green coming back to life. Adder's tongue ferns come in early, too, along with dogtooth violets. "The area starts to really take hold again about three years after a burn, and all kinds of things spring back," says Skinner. "More reptiles show up, and the area has deer and a lot of turkeys."

Sites that aren't managed-either by brush-hogging or burning-tend to have fluctuating populations of bladderpods. One year there will be a good size patch, the next year, there won't be any. Mike Skinner worked with private landowner Frank Quin, who brushhogged part of his land where bladderpods grow every year. "He tried to keep sprouts and sumac-the woody vegetation-down," says Skinner. That way, the bladderpod doesn't have to compete with them. Skinner says most bladderpods grow on private land, and most landowners he works with feel a sense of pride because they know something rare and unique is growing on their land.

"Every once in a while we discover a new patch of it, and it's started turning up more on public land, too," says Skinner. Biologists have found it on Bois d'Arc Conservation Area, Wilson's Creek Battlefield and Nathan Boone's Homestead State Historic Site.

"It's really satisfying to see them coming back like this. We've accomplished what we set out to do, and biologists don't always get to say that," concludes Skinner. "I wish we had prairie-chickens and a lot of other endangered species figured out as well as we do the bladderpod."

This magazine is brought to you by . . . Plants

by Carol Davit

Fibers in the paper, the soy-based ink, as well as virtually all the oxygen you are breathing as you turn the pages of this magazine are all made possible by plants. These green engines convert the sun's energy and serve it up to us in countless ways: food, oxygen, clothing, perfume, paper, lumber, coal, carbon dioxide processing and food for livestock, pets and all other animals.

We need plants to survive-not only to meet our basic needs but to make life worthwhile. Would you want to live in a world without fall color, spring wildflowers or vegetable gardens? Without books, firewood or apple pie? We need to protect plants. Without them, our bodies and our spirits would die.

Plant Facts:

More than 1,750 different kinds of plants are native to Missouri. More than 550 of them are of concern to conservationists because they are rare or their numbers are low or declining.
Hawaii has three native species of orchids. Missouri, by comparison, has 35 native kinds of orchids. Sixteen of Missouri's orchid species are of conservation concern.
One hundred acres of Missouri upland forest may contain up to 200 plant species, 100 acres of prairie can have as many as 300 plant species, and 100 acres of savanna can have up to 400 plant species.
Pharmaceutical companies collect pollen from trees and other plants in Missouri for allergy medication research.
Missouri white oak is used for making barrels in the Scotch whisky, bourbon and wine industries in Europe and North America.
In the U.S. alone, 20 percent of all U.S. native plants-or more than 4,000 species-are of conservation concern.
Plants help regulate the Earth's climate. They cycle water from the ground into the atmosphere, stabilizing weather, rainfall and temperature.
More than half of the world's food supply is provided by just three grasses: wheat, rice and corn.
The annual U.S. wholesale value of farm crop plants is $9 billion. In the U.S., 2,839 species of rare and endangered plants are related to cultivated species. Close relatives often are used in breeding experiments to make crop plants more resistant to insect pests or diseases. Protecting these imperiled plants could provide additional food sources for Missourians and for people around the world.
Nearly 40 percent of all prescribed medicines are derived from plants and fungi or are designed from naturally occurring chemical compounds. These medicines include aspirin, as well as drugs that treat childhood leukemia, breast cancer and heart disease.
Only a small percentage of plants have ever been analyzed for medicinal benefits. Some could yield cures for devastating diseases like cancer and AIDS. Some of these plants could be in Missouri.

(Plant fact data from the Center for Plant Conservation, the Missouri Botanical Garden and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Missouri Conservationist online