Rare plants 5 - Backhoe 95

[gotpasswords]

One of the rarest plants on the planet was nearly entirely wiped out by a backhoe recently. Before the backhoe came along, there were nearly twice as many hits on Google (191) for the plant's name as there were living plants (100).

Something called a Baker's Larkspur (http://sacramento.fws.gov/es/plant_spp_accts/bakers_larkspur.htm) grows only in one spot in Northern California and a work crew destroyed 95 of the planet's last 100 plants with a backhoe while removing debris that was clogging a roadside storm drain.

Discussions are underway to determine if it's possible to move the last five plants away from the road. Typically 90% of transplanted plants of this type don't survive so it doesn't look too promising.

Baker's larkspur, a member of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), is an erect, leafy-stemmed perennial with showy blue and white flowers. It was once known from several populations in Marin and Sonoma counties, and has become endangered through extensive livestock grazing, roadside maintenance activities, and conversion of its habitat to cultivated farmland. The single remaining occurrence is extremely small and privately owned, and appears to be declining gradually. This species is exceptionally vulnerable to chance catastrophic events. Although Baker's larkspur has always been rare, habitat losses have nearly caused its extinction. (bolding mine)

chance catastrophic events, indeed!

[The King of Soup]

That's sad. It is disheartening that a rare plant that had been decently located and counted by California could become victim to a poorly aimed, though well-intentioned, backhoe. One might hope for better information to be available to work crews, but the clearing of a storm drain is often a job that can't be ignored or postponed: left alone, it might have wiped out the plants anyhow.

On the victory side, if it cheers you any, the Furbish Lousewort has been holding its own against the State of Maine, private corporations and the Army Corps of Engineers for 30 years now, keeping the northern St. John river largely dam-free.

[gotpasswords]

Just have to hope that one of 'em snuck off somehow to another hillside, or someone walked along and said "Oooh! Pretty!" and plucked one to keep at home.

Having just five remaining specimens of a plant or animal left in the world is just mind-blowing.

You're right about the scheduling of the digging - it was pretty much an emergency job and the crew didn't know exactly where the plants were and being backhoe operators, probably didn't know what not to uproot.

Here's an article from the SF Chronicle. (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/02/03/state0606EST0474.DTL)