Plant Identification for the Rare Plant Watch List (Finger Lakes)

When

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 - 7:00pm to Wednesday, March 17, 2021 - 6:45pm

What

Talk

Where

ZOOM

Who

Steve Young, New York Natural Heritage Program

Description

Every year Steve Young collaborates with professionals around New York State to determine state rankings for rare, threatened and endangered species. One of the lesser-known lists that he compiles is the Rare Plant Watch List. It contains native species that are considered rare, uncommon, or declining in numbers and need continued periodic monitoring to decide if they should be actively inventoried in more detail or removed from the list. Join us to learn about these lists and take a trip to some of the natural communities around the Finger Lakes to learn to identify the watch list species that occur in them. In your botanical explorations you might find some of these interesting plants and help refine their status in the state.

Report

Scroll beneath the video for the watch list itself. The recording is available on YouTube or below:

Watch List Species, ordered by status & scientific name
Species	Common Name	Habitat	Counties - bold is extant, not bold is historical
Bidens beckii	Beck's Water Marigold	Ponds and lakes	Cayuga, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne
Carex cryptolepis	Small Yellow Sedge	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Chemung, Onondaga, Tioga
Carex emmonsii	Emmons' Sedge	Dry to mesic forests, forest edges, and thickets	Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Tompkins, Yates
Carex retroflexa	Reflexed Sedge	In a variety of forests in open habitats and disturbed areas.	Cayuga, Cortland, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins
Celastrus scandens	American Bittersweet	Woodland edges, shrub rows	Cayuga, Cortland, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins
Corydalis flavula	Yellow Corydalis	Limestone outcrops	Onondaga, Ontario
Cryptogramma stelleri	Slender Cliffbrake	Limestone outcrops	Cortland, Onondaga, Schuyler, Tompkins, Yates
Cuscuta pentagona	Five-angled Dodder	Open wet areas like riverbanks and pond shores	Monroe, Ontario
Cyperus erythrorhizos	Red-rooted Flat Sedge	Disturbed marshes and fluctuating shorelines	Cayuga, Chemung, Monroe, Tompkins, Wayne
Cyperus odoratus	Fragrant Flat Sedge	Shorelines, wet meadows and other disturbed wet or muddy sites	Cayuga, Monroe, Onondaga, Schuyler, Wayne
Cyperus schweinitzii	Schweinitz's Flat Sedge	Open sands	Cayuga, Chemung, Monroe
Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin	Small Northern Yellow Lady's Slipper	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne
Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens	Large Yellow Lady's Slipper	Limestone woodlands	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Cypripedium reginae	Showy Lady's Slipper	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Juglans cinerea	Butternut	Deciduous forests	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Lathyrus ochroleucus	Pale Vetchling	Limestone woodlands	Chemung, Livingston, Ontario, Tioga, Tompkins
Lespedeza frutescens	Bushy Bush Clover	Dry to dry-mesic woodlands, rocky summits, and edges of forests	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Ontario, Tompkins, Yates
Lespedeza repens	Creeping Bush Clover	Dry to mesic acid hardwood forests, woodlands, rocky summits, thickets, and gravelly dirt road sides.	Chemung, Tompkins
Lupinus perennis ssp. perennis	Wild Lupine	Dry sandy openings in woodlands, fields, and roadsides	Cayuga, Chemung, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins
Oclemena nemoralis	Bog Aster	Bogs and poor fens	Tioga
Panax quinquefolius	American Ginseng	Limestone woodlands	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Phragmites americanus	American Phragmites	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Seneca, Tioga
Scheuchzeria palustris	Pod Grass	Bogs and poor fens	Cayuga, Monroe, Onondaga, Schuyler, Wayne
Triosteum perfoliatum	Perfoliate-leaved Horse Gentian	Openings in dry woods, thickets, on poor rocky soil	Chemung, Livingston, Onondaga, Tompkins
Veronica peregrina ssp. xalapensis	Glandular Speedwell	Human-disturbed habitats, meadows and fields	Cayuga

Only historical counties
Agalinis paupercula	Small-flowered Agalinis	Bogs, shores, barrens, shores of rivers and lakes and in wet sandy soil	Cayuga, Monroe
Cakile edentula var. lacustris	American Sea Rocket	Great Lakes beaches	Cayuga, Monroe, Wayne
Carex amphibola	Ambiguous Sedge	Floodplain forests and moist deciduous forests	Cayuga, Tompkins
Carex bicknellii	Bicknell's Sedge	Rocky summits, woodland openings, thickets, roadsides, and railroad rights-of-way	Tompkins
Carex muehlenbergii var. enervis	Muhlenberg's Veinless Sedge	Fields, openings in forests, woodlands, rocky summits, and utility rights-of-way	Tioga, Tompkins
Carex nigromarginata	Black-edged Sedge	Dry to dry-mesic forests, road banks, and paths through forests	Monroe
Cyperus houghtonii	Houghton's Flat Sedge	Dry sandy sites and ledges, including roadsides, lakeshores, sandplains and woodlands	Chemung, Livingston, Steuben
Hypericum ascyron ssp. pyrimidatum	Great St. John's Wort	Primarily on cobble and rocky shores of larger rivers and less frequently in seeps and springy areas	Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins
Luzula echinata	Spreading Wood Rush	Deciduous forests, meadows and fields, and shaded rocky outcrops	Monroe, Tompkins
Neottia cordata var. cordata	Heart-leaved Twayblade	Cool peaty swamps	Chemung, Monroe, Onondaga
Panicum flexile	Wiry Witch Grass	Moist sandy or gravelly, usually calcareous, shores and wet meadows; fens	Seneca, Yates
Polygonum erectum	Erect Knotweed	Floodplain forests, shorelines, riparian areas, and also pastures and lawns	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Schoenoplectiella purshiana var. purshiana	Weak-stalked Bulrush	Edges of pond, lakes, and large to medium sized rivers	Wayne
Schoenoplectiella smithii var. smithii	Smith's Bulrush	Areas with significant water fluctuation including edges of large lakes and rivers	Cayuga, Onondaga, Tompkins, Wayne
Solidago ptarmicoides	Upland White Flat-topped Goldenrod	Calcareous fens and flat limestone outcrops	Monroe
Thelypteris simulata	Massachusetts Fern	Shaded, marshy wetlands and bog areas such as cedar, spruce, larch, and sphagnum swamps	Onondaga, Ontario
Trillium cernuum	Nodding Trillium	Wet or moist areas in rich forest understories and shrublands.	Cortland, Monroe, Onondaga, Tompkins, Wayne

Watchlist by community
Species	Common Name	Habitat	Counties - bold is extant, not bold is historical
Carex cryptolepis	Small Yellow Sedge	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Chemung, Onondaga, Tioga
Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin	Small Northern Yellow Lady's Slipper	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne
Cypripedium reginae	Showy Lady's Slipper	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Phragmites americanus	American Phragmites	Calcareous wetland openings	Cayuga, Seneca, Tioga
Panicum flexile	Wiry Witch Grass	Moist sandy or gravelly, usually calcareous, shores and wet meadows; fens	Seneca, Yates
Solidago ptarmicoides	Upland White Flat-topped Goldenrod	Calcareous fens and flat limestone outcrops	Monroe

Bidens beckii	Beck's Water Marigold	Ponds and lakes	Cayuga, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne

Corydalis flavula	Yellow Corydalis	Limestone outcrops	Onondaga, Ontario
Cryptogramma stelleri	Slender Cliffbrake	Limestone outcrops	Cortland, Onondaga, Schuyler, Tompkins, Yates

Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens	Large Yellow Lady's Slipper	Limestone woodlands	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Steuben, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Lathyrus ochroleucus	Pale Vetchling	Limestone woodlands	Chemung, Livingston, Ontario, Tioga, Tompkins
Panax quinquefolius	American Ginseng	Limestone woodlands	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Trillium cernuum	Nodding Trillium	Wet or moist areas in rich forest understories and shrublands.	Cortland, Monroe, Onondaga, Tompkins, Wayne

Cyperus schweinitzii	Schweinitz's Flat Sedge	Open sands	Cayuga, Chemung, Monroe
Lupinus perennis ssp. perennis	Wild Lupine	Dry sandy openings in woodlands, fields, and roadsides	Cayuga, Chemung, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins
Cakile edentula var. lacustris	American Sea Rocket	Great Lakes beaches	Cayuga, Monroe, Wayne
Cyperus houghtonii	Houghton's Flat Sedge	Dry sandy sites and ledges, including roadsides, lakeshores, sandplains and woodlands	Chemung, Livingston, Steuben

Cuscuta pentagona	Five-angled Dodder	Open wet areas like riverbanks and pond shores	Monroe, Ontario
Cyperus erythrorhizos	Red-rooted Flat Sedge	Disturbed marshes and fluctuating shorelines	Cayuga, Chemung, Monroe, Tompkins, Wayne
Cyperus odoratus	Fragrant Flat Sedge	Shorelines, wet meadows and other disturbed wet or muddy sites	Cayuga, Monroe, Onondaga, Schuyler, Wayne
Agalinis paupercula	Small-flowered Agalinis	Bogs, shores, barrens, shores of rivers and lakes and in wet sandy soil	Cayuga, Monroe
Hypericum ascyron ssp. pyrimidatum	Great St. John's Wort	Primarily on cobble and rocky shores of larger rivers and less frequently in seeps and springy areas	Chemung, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins
Polygonum erectum	Erect Knotweed	Floodplain forests, shorelines, riparian areas, and also pastures and lawns	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Schoenoplectiella purshiana var. purshiana	Weak-stalked Bulrush	Edges of pond, lakes, and large to medium sized rivers	Wayne
Schoenoplectiella smithii var. smithii	Smith's Bulrush	Areas with significant water fluctuation including edges of large lakes and rivers	Cayuga, Onondaga, Tompkins, Wayne

Oclemena nemoralis	Bog Aster	Bogs and poor fens	Tioga
Scheuchzeria palustris	Pod Grass	Bogs and poor fens	Cayuga, Monroe, Onondaga, Schuyler, Wayne
Neottia cordata var. cordata	Heart-leaved Twayblade	Cool peaty swamps	Chemung, Monroe, Onondaga
Thelypteris simulata	Massachusetts Fern	Shaded, marshy wetlands and bog areas such as cedar, spruce, larch, and sphagnum swamps	Onondaga, Ontario

Carex emmonsii	Emmons' Sedge	Dry to mesic forests, forest edges, and thickets	Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, Tompkins, Yates
Carex retroflexa	Reflexed Sedge	In a variety of forests in open habitats and disturbed areas.	Cayuga, Cortland, Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins
Juglans cinerea	Butternut	Deciduous forests	Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Yates
Lespedeza frutescens	Bushy Bush Clover	Dry to dry-mesic woodlands, rocky summits, and edges of forests	Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Ontario, Tompkins, Yates
Triosteum perfoliatum	Perfoliate-leaved Horse Gentian	Openings in dry woods, thickets, on poor rocky soil	Chemung, Livingston, Onondaga, Tompkins
Carex amphibola	Ambiguous Sedge	Floodplain forests and moist deciduous forests	Cayuga, Tompkins
Carex nigromarginata	Black-edged Sedge	Dry to dry-mesic forests, road banks, and paths through forests	Monroe
Luzula echinata	Spreading Wood Rush	Deciduous forests, meadows and fields, and shaded rocky outcrops	Monroe, Tompkins

Celastrus scandens	American Bittersweet	Woodland edges, shrub rows	Cayuga, Cortland, Livingston, Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Tioga, Tompkins
Veronica peregrina ssp. xalapensis	Glandular Speedwell	Human-disturbed habitats, meadows and fields	Cayuga
Carex bicknellii	Bicknell's Sedge	Rocky summits, woodland openings, thickets, roadsides, and railroad rights-of-way	Tompkins
Carex muehlenbergii var. enervis	Muhlenberg's Veinless Sedge	Fields, openings in forests and woodlands, rocky summits, and utility rights-of-way	Tioga, Tompkins
Lespedeza repens	Creeping Bush Clover	Dry to mesic acid hardwood forests, woodlands, rocky summits, thickets, and gravelly dirt road sides.	Chemung, Tompkins