Blowout penstemon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blowout penstemon |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Penstemon
|
| Species: |
haydenii
|
The blowout penstemon (scientific name: Penstemon haydenii) is a special type of flowering plant. It's also called the blowout beardtongue. This plant belongs to the Penstemon group and the Plantaginaceae family. It's a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years and comes back each warm season.
This unique plant grows naturally in the Nebraska Sand Hills and in one spot in Wyoming. The blowout penstemon has a cool milky blue color and a thick, waxy coating that helps protect it. Its leaves are a light purple, and they grow in an alternating pattern along a central stem. Its flowers bloom from May to early June, growing from the base of the leaves. The plant then drops its seeds from late August into September.
The blowout penstemon loves to grow on bare sand dunes. Its waxy coating helps it survive strong winds and blowing sand, which can cut down other plants. Another amazing feature of this plant is how long its seeds can survive. Seeds dropped in late summer can stay alive in the sandy soil for many decades, like a hidden treasure waiting to sprout! For these seeds to grow, they need lots of wet weather and some rubbing or scratching (called abrasion). While it mostly relies on pollen from other plants, it can sometimes pollinate itself.
Contents
Where Does the Blowout Penstemon Live?
The blowout penstemon was mostly known from the Sandhills in western Nebraska. Recently, small groups of these plants were also found in Wyoming. You'll only find this plant in sandy places where there isn't much other plant life. This is why it's called the "blowout" penstemon – it grows in sandy areas called blowouts.
This plant isn't very good at competing with other plants. If too many other plants grow around it, the blowout penstemon can easily be pushed out. The constantly shifting sands of the Sandhills are perfect for it because there's not much competition for water, nutrients, or sunlight. The blowout penstemon is often one of the first plants to grow in these bare areas, helping other plants eventually grow there too.
Why is the Blowout Penstemon Endangered?
The blowout penstemon was officially listed as an endangered species on September 1, 1987. This happened because there were very few of them, and their special habitat was shrinking.
One big reason for the shrinking habitat is how land is managed now. Better ways of managing land and controlling wildfires in the Sandhills have changed the environment. In the past, landowners sometimes accidentally created blowouts by letting too many animals graze in one area. There also wasn't a clear plan for controlling blowouts. Today, land management often uses better grazing plans that help the land recover, which means fewer blowouts for the penstemon.
Fewer wildfires in the Sandhills have also hurt the blowout penstemon's habitat. Fires help by clearing away dead plants and leaves from the soil. This opens up the bare ground to wind erosion, which creates the sandy, open spaces the penstemon needs. When there are more wildfires, it makes it harder for other plants to grow, giving the blowout penstemon an advantage.
As wildfires are controlled more and more, the sand dunes turn into rangeland (areas for grazing animals), and the blowout sites disappear. Wildfires are controlled more now because they can cause a lot of damage. With new technology and resources, it's also easier to stop natural wildfires from spreading.
What Are the Main Dangers to the Plant?
The blowout penstemon faces four main threats that reduce its numbers and habitat:
- Human actions: How people manage the land can affect the plant.
- Weather conditions: Unfavorable weather can make it hard for the plant to grow.
- Other plants: Competition from other plants.
- Insects: Damage caused by bugs.
Human actions, like improving land management and controlling fires, directly impact the habitat the blowout penstemon needs. Sometimes, land managers even reshape blowouts with machines to stop the wind from swirling too much. They might use machines or even cattle to change the land and add a layer of dead plants and debris.
Weather conditions, especially drought, can also be a problem. Since the seeds need wet conditions to sprout, a lack of rain can stop them from growing, keeping them dormant for longer.
Competition from other plants is another big issue. The blowout penstemon can provide shelter for other plants, which then grow and reduce the amount of windblown sand. These new plants then compete with the penstemon for resources. When a blowout penstemon starts growing in a blowout, it's often a sign that the land is recovering. While this is good for the overall health of the land, it can be bad for the penstemon.
Insect damage also seriously affects the plant's survival. The larvae (young) of a type of pyralid moth are a major problem. They dig into the stem and roots of the blowout penstemon to grow, which can kill up to 75% of the affected plants.
How Are We Helping the Plant Recover?
To help the blowout penstemon, people are trying different things. One way is to regularly disturb the ground surface. This helps create the open, sandy blowout environment that the plant needs and stops other plants from growing too much.
Even oil and gas companies that operate in areas where blowout penstemon lives have strict rules about disturbing the ground. These rules are not always the same for every situation; they depend on the year, weather, season, and how well the plant population is doing.
To make sure the blowout penstemon doesn't disappear forever, its seeds are being collected and stored in special seed banks. This helps protect the species and prevents extinction. These stored seeds might even be used later to plant new populations in different areas. Another way to help is by stopping all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) from driving in these sensitive habitats.
Images for kids
-
A close-up of the blowout penstemon plant.
