Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare Plants

Townsend, John

The first list included in this report is the Rare Vascular Plant List. This list contains information on the legal and biological status of Virginia's rarest known native vascular plant taxa, 628 in all. This list includes all plants believed to be sufficiently rare or threatened to merit an inventory of their status and locations. The second list included in this report is the Vascular Plant Watchlist. This list contains information on the legal and biological status of 231 additional taxa that are decidedly uncommon in Virginia but not scarce enough to merit inclusion on the Rare Vascular Plant List. Plants on this list are monitored to determine general population trends. If a species or variety on this list is found to be rare or threatened, it is placed on the Rare Vascular Plant List. The third list included in this report is the Review List (Taxa of Uncertain Status). These taxa lack numerical ranks, indicating that they are poorly known from a taxonomic and distributional standpoint. Although some of these taxa may prove to be conservation targets, more field and herbarium data are needed to assess their distinctiveness and degree of rarity in Virginia. There are 71 taxa in this category. The fourth list included in this report is the Rare Non-Vascular Plant List. This list contains information on the legal and biological status of 95 taxa thought to be rare in the state of Virginia. The lichens, liverworts, and mosses listed herein represent an attempt at designating imperiled species within this often-neglected group. The list is currently small compared to the vascular plant lists because the taxonomy and distributions of non-vascular plants are generally poorly known in Virginia at this time (with some exceptions). All plants which are officially protected by federal or state endangered species acts are included in these lists. The Office of Plant Protection within the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has regulatory responsibility for the listing and protection of Virginia's endangered and threatened plants and insects under the Virginia Endangered Plant and Insect Species Act, as amended (Section 3.1 -1020 through 1030, Code of Virginia). The Act provides for the official listing and recovery of endangered and threatened plant and insect species in Virginia.

Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia: Rare Plants

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