Conradina verticillata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Conradina verticillata |
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| Wild specimen on the Big South Fork of the Cumberland River | |
| Conservation status | |
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| Genus: |
Conradina
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| Species: |
verticillata
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The Cumberland rosemary (Conradina verticillata) is a beautiful flowering shrub. It belongs to the mint family and grows in the Cumberland Plateau region. People sometimes call it Conradina montana. Since 1991, this special plant has been listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. This means it needs protection to survive.
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What Does Cumberland Rosemary Look Like?
Cumberland rosemary is a small shrub, usually growing about 50 centimeters (about 20 inches) tall. It has thin, needle-like leaves that smell like the rosemary herb you might use for cooking.
Its flowers are usually lavender or purple, but sometimes they can be white. Each flower is about 1 to 2 centimeters long. They often have darker spots in the middle. If you look at a flower from the side, it might have an "S" shape.
One Plant, Many Stems
It can be tricky to tell individual Cumberland rosemary plants apart. What looks like many separate plants might actually be one big plant! This happens because its stems tend to fall over when they grow taller than 30 centimeters (about 12 inches). These fallen stems can then grow new roots and new upright stems. Since the plant lives in rocky, sandy areas with floods, sand and rocks can cover these connecting stems, making them hard to see.
How to Tell it Apart
When Cumberland rosemary is not flowering, it can look similar to other plants with needle-like leaves. However, none of these other plants have the distinct rosemary smell. This scent is a great way to identify it!
How Does Cumberland Rosemary Live and Grow?
Cumberland rosemary flowers from mid-May to early June. Its flowers first make pollen. Then, after about a day, the female parts of the flower become ready to receive pollen.
Pollination and Seeds
Bumblebees and honeybees are the main helpers for pollination. If a flower isn't pollinated, it can last for about a week. But once it's pollinated, the flower will fall off in just two days.
The seeds are ready in mid-June. They are tiny, dark brown, and about 1 millimeter wide. Not many of these seeds actually sprout. Some studies show that less than 10% of seeds grow into new plants. Other studies report a slightly higher number, around 26%.
One reason for low seed growth might be that the plant often grows in "clones." This means many nearby flowers might actually be part of the same plant. Even when pollen comes from a different plant, the seeds still don't sprout very well.
If a seed does sprout, it usually takes about two weeks. Warmer temperatures help the seeds grow.
Where Does Cumberland Rosemary Live?
Cumberland rosemary loves to live on the rocky banks of rivers in the Cumberland Plateau. It grows best in full sunlight and in soil that drains water well. This soil often has a lot of sand or a mix of sand and gravel.
The Importance of Floods
This plant actually benefits from floods! Floods help by washing away taller plants that might block the sunlight. Flooding can also help the plant spread. When stems get covered by water, they can root at new spots. Floods can also carry seeds and pieces of the plant downstream to new places. Some scientists think Cumberland rosemary might even do well with floods followed by very dry periods, as this could help get rid of other plants that compete with it.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided not to announce the exact locations where Cumberland rosemary grows. This is because the plant's spots are often hidden. They worried that telling everyone might attract collectors or curious people who could accidentally harm the plants. Instead, they contact landowners who have these plants on their property.
Where Can You Find Cumberland Rosemary?
Cumberland rosemary is only found in the Cumberland Plateau, in parts of Tennessee and Kentucky.
In 1991, when it was first listed as threatened, there were three main groups of plants in Tennessee. These were along the South Fork Cumberland River, the Caney Fork River, and the Obed River. There were 44 known groups of plants in total in Tennessee. In Kentucky, there were four groups, all along the South Fork Cumberland River.
Over the years, the number of known groups has changed. In 1996, there were 79 groups in Tennessee and 12 in Kentucky. By 2010, observers counted 60 groups in total, and in 2017, there were 66 groups.
Why is Cumberland Rosemary Threatened?
The biggest danger to Cumberland rosemary is damage to its river habitats.
Dams and Water Changes
For example, when the Wolf Creek Dam was built in Kentucky, it completely wiped out one group of these plants. Dams can hurt Cumberland rosemary in two ways:
- They can permanently flood the areas where the plants live.
- They can change the natural flow of floods. Without regular floods, taller plants can grow and block the sunlight that Cumberland rosemary needs.
Also, nearby coal mining can make the river water more acidic, which is bad for the plants.
Human Visitors
Cumberland rosemary can be found in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. This is a popular place for camping, hiking, and white-water rafting. Visitors might accidentally damage the plants, especially with off-road vehicles.
Invasive Plants
In recent years, new plants that are not native to the area have become a problem. These "invasive species," like tree-of-heaven and mimosa, have threatened the Cumberland rosemary in the Big South Fork area. The National Park Service is working to control these invasive plants. While we don't know exactly how much they hurt Cumberland rosemary, it's likely they create too much shade and stop the rosemary from growing well.
Scientists also think that climate change could make Cumberland rosemary moderately vulnerable in the future.
How Are We Helping Cumberland Rosemary?
A plan was made in 1996 to help Cumberland rosemary recover. The goal is to remove it from the threatened list when there are five protected groups of plants on five different rivers, with a total of 25 groups. Each group needs to have at least 50 genetically different plants. The five rivers are the Big South Fork Cumberland River, Caney Fork River, and the Obed River (including its smaller streams, Clear Creek and Daddy's Creek).
The plan hoped to finish by 2005, but as of 2018, Cumberland rosemary is still considered threatened.
Growing Plants Off-Site
In 1993, some Cumberland rosemary plants were being grown in special nurseries, like the North Carolina Arboretum. This is called "ex situ" conservation, meaning growing them outside their natural habitat. As of 2018, the North Carolina Arboretum only has seeds stored, not live plants.
Even though much of the Cumberland rosemary grows on land managed by the National Park Service, there haven't been big changes to trails to keep visitors away from the plants. It's also hard to know exactly how much people are affecting the plants, as most of the information is just from observations, not detailed studies.
