Nelson's checkerbloom facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nelson's checkerbloom |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Sidalcea
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| Species: |
nelsoniana
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The Sidalcea nelsoniana is a special flowering plant. It's often called Nelson's checkerbloom or Nelson's checkermallow. This plant is part of the mallow family. It grows naturally in the Willamette Valley and the Coast Range of Oregon. You can also find it in the very southwest part of Washington in the United States. This plant is rare because its home is being lost or damaged. Because of this, the U.S. government has listed it as a threatened species.
What it Looks Like
This plant is a perennial herb. This means it's a plant that lives for many years and doesn't have a woody stem. It grows several straight stems that can reach up to a meter (about 3 feet) tall. These stems grow from a thick main root called a taproot.
The leaves of the plant have different shapes. The leaves near the bottom are shaped like a hand with fingers spread out (this is called palmate). The leaves higher up on the stem are divided more deeply. Each stem can have up to 100 pink flowers. These flowers grow in a cluster that looks like a spike, called a raceme.
This plant is special because it has two kinds of flowers. Some flowers have both male and female parts. Other flowers are only female and cannot make pollen. Each flower has a cup-like part called a calyx that is purple-colored. The calyx is made of five leaf-like parts called sepals. There are also five petals, which can be up to 1.5 centimeters (about half an inch) long.
After the flower blooms, it makes a fruit called a schizocarp. This fruit splits into seven to nine small parts, and each part holds one seed. The plant usually blooms from late May to mid-July. Nelson's checkerbloom can make new plants in two ways: by growing from seeds or by sprouting from pieces of its root that break off.
Where it Lives
You can find Nelson's checkerbloom in several different kinds of wetland areas. It doesn't need just one specific type of wet place to grow.
It likes to grow in open, wet spots. These include meadows with sedges and grasses. It also grows in the areas where prairie lands meet woodlands. You might see it on sunny edges of forests or near rivers (this is called riparian habitat). This plant can even grow in places that have been disturbed, like near campgrounds.
There are six main areas where this plant lives. Four of these are in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. One is in the Coast Range of Oregon, and another is in southwestern Washington State. The Washington location actually has two smaller groups of plants. A large group of these plants lives in the William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge. The biggest group in the Oregon Coast Range is found at Walker Flat in Yamhill County. Most of the groups of plants are quite small. About 48% of them have fewer than 100 plants, and 31% have fewer than 25 plants.
Why it Needs Help
This plant faces several dangers. It has been listed as an endangered species since 1993. This means it was at high risk of disappearing forever. However, in April 2022, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service suggested taking it off the endangered list. This is because there has been good progress in bringing back the prairie homes this plant needs.
One big problem for this plant is when fires are stopped. Normally, wildfires help this plant by clearing out thick bushes and trees. This allows sunlight to reach the checkerbloom. When fires are stopped, the plant's home gets too crowded with other plants, blocking the sun it needs.
Even though the plant can handle some disturbance, groups of plants near roads and farms are at risk. Many groups in the Willamette Valley have been harmed or have completely disappeared because of farming and city growth. Over the last 150 years, 99% of the wet areas in the Willamette Valley have been changed or destroyed. A plan to build a dam in the future could also threaten a large group of these plants.
Even in protected areas, the plant is in danger from non-native plants that spread quickly. These unwanted plants, like reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), can take over the checkerbloom's space.
Other threats include chemicals used to kill weeds (called herbicides) and being eaten by a small bug called a weevil (Macrohoptus sidalceae). Nelson's checkerbloom can also mix its genes with other Sidalcea plants, like Sidalcea cusickii. This mixing can change the rare plant's unique genes, which is called genetic pollution.
