Nitrophila mohavensis
Encyclopedia
Nitrophila mohavensis is a rare species of flowering plant in the amaranth family
known by the common name Amargosa niterwort. It is endemic to the Amargosa Desert
straddling the border between California
and Nevada
near Death Valley
. There are three occurrences known on the Nevada side and fewer than five occurrences in California, and the plant is a federally listed endangered species
.
The plant grows only in alkaline salt pans
made up of moist and drying, salt-encrusted clay soils surrounded by other halophyte
s, such as Atriplex confertifolia
and Cleomella brevipes
. Its range is restricted and highly localized, making it vulnerable to severe losses or extinction
in a single event. It only occurs within and around the remnants of Carson Slough in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
, which is a protected area but is still affected by alterations in the hydrology
of the landscape. The plant relies on saturation of its soil by a high water table
, and the main threat to its existence is the pumping of groundwater
. Other threats include potassium
and zeolite
mining
in the area and occasional illegal off-road vehicle
use.
Amargosa niterwort is a petite rhizomatous
perennial herb growing no more than about 10 centimeters tall. It produces erect branches, often in pairs, covered in fleshy oval-shaped green leaves 3 or 4 millimeters long. The inflorescence
is a solitary flower or cluster of a few flowers emerging from between the leaves. The flower lacks petals but has pink petallike sepal
s which fade white with age.
Amaranthaceae
The flowering plant family Amaranthaceae, the Amaranth family, contains about 176 genera and 2,400 species.- Description :Most of these species are herbs or subshrubs; very few are trees or climbers. Some species are succulent....
known by the common name Amargosa niterwort. It is endemic to the Amargosa Desert
Amargosa Desert
The Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California–Nevada border. It is largely coincident with the geographic Amargosa Valley....
straddling the border between California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
near Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
. There are three occurrences known on the Nevada side and fewer than five occurrences in California, and the plant is a federally listed endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
.
The plant grows only in alkaline salt pans
Dry lake
Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...
made up of moist and drying, salt-encrusted clay soils surrounded by other halophyte
Halophyte
A halophyte is a plant that grows where it is affected by salinity in the root area or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs, and seashores. An example of a halophyte is the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora . Relatively few plant species are...
s, such as Atriplex confertifolia
Atriplex confertifolia
Atriplex confertifolia is a species of evergreen shrub in the Chenopodiaceae family, which is native to the western United States.-Habitat:Shadscale is a common, often dominant, shrub in the lowest and driest areas of the Great Basin...
and Cleomella brevipes
Cleomella brevipes
Cleomella brevipes is a species of flowering plant in the cleome family known by the common name shortstalk stinkweed. It is native to the Mojave Desert and adjacent hills, where it grows in wet alkaline environments such as mineral-rich desert hot springs. It is an annual herb producing a rough,...
. Its range is restricted and highly localized, making it vulnerable to severe losses or extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
in a single event. It only occurs within and around the remnants of Carson Slough in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge
The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wildlife refuge, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, located west-northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, in southern Nye County...
, which is a protected area but is still affected by alterations in the hydrology
Hydrology
Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...
of the landscape. The plant relies on saturation of its soil by a high water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
, and the main threat to its existence is the pumping of groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
. Other threats include potassium
Potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K and atomic number 19. Elemental potassium is a soft silvery-white alkali metal that oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive with water, generating sufficient heat to ignite the hydrogen emitted in the reaction.Potassium and sodium are...
and zeolite
Zeolite
Zeolites are microporous, aluminosilicate minerals commonly used as commercial adsorbents. The term zeolite was originally coined in 1756 by Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who observed that upon rapidly heating the material stilbite, it produced large amounts of steam from water that...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
in the area and occasional illegal off-road vehicle
Off-road vehicle
An off-road vehicle is considered to be any type of vehicle which is capable of driving on and off paved or gravel surface. It is generally characterized by having large tires with deep, open treads, a flexible suspension, or even caterpillar tracks...
use.
Amargosa niterwort is a petite rhizomatous
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
perennial herb growing no more than about 10 centimeters tall. It produces erect branches, often in pairs, covered in fleshy oval-shaped green leaves 3 or 4 millimeters long. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a solitary flower or cluster of a few flowers emerging from between the leaves. The flower lacks petals but has pink petallike sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s which fade white with age.