A new species of plant found in only seven locations worldwide has been identified in Arkansas. Rock Creek Natural Area in Sharp County, a unit of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission’s System of Natural Areas, is home to the newly discovered Stiletto Beaksedge (Rhynchospora stiletto). The plant’s discovery was published by researchers Claire M. Ciafré and Robert F. C. Naczi in Kew Bulletin, the official journal of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, located in London, England.
“Finding a new plant species from Rock Creek Natural Area speaks to the value of public land set aside for conservation, like those lands within the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission’s System of Natural Areas,” said Stacy Hurst, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. “This find highlights the importance of the agency’s work to preserve biodiversity throughout the state.”
The Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission’s System of Natural Areas is made up of lands specifically managed to preserve, and sometimes restore, rare natural communities. Rock Creek Natural Area contains one of the highest concentrations of rare plants in Arkansas. Many of these plants occur along Rock Creek, a tributary of the Spring River, that has high water quality due to several springs and seeps feeding the creek, as well as the lack of development in the watershed.
“This find of a rare plant on one of our state’s natural areas is further testament to the quality management and restoration of lands within the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission’s System of Natural Areas,” Director of Arkansas Heritage, Jimmy Bryant said.
Stiletto Beaksedge is a plant in the sedge family. An especially long beak on the fruit distinguishes Stiletto Beaksedge from similar species and is also the source of the epithet “stiletto,” chosen because the beak resembles a stiletto dagger. While examining herbarium specimens of Rhynchospora, Ciafré and Naczi independently noticed that some of the specimens were quite different from other known specimens of the species. Learning of each other’s observations, they began collaborating to study the different specimens.
“The herbarium specimens and information on habitats sent by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission greatly improved our account of Rhynchospora stiletto,” said Naczi. “This rare species is known from only four states, and all our information on its occurrences in Arkansas are from the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. We are most grateful to them for their help with our work.”
Through herbarium work, field work and analyses, the researchers determined that the specimens they were examining were indeed different – the plants in the specimens were a species not yet described to science.
Stiletto Beaksedge occurs in the Ozark Highlands, Interior Plateau, and Ridge and Valley ecoregions of Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee. It grows in open, sunny, wet, calcium-rich habitats that are otherwise nutrient-poor.
“This is the third time in the last few years that a new species has been found on our natural areas. In 2016 the Hairy-faced Spiny Pod (Matelea hirtelliflora) was described as new-to-science from east Texas sand grasslands and was promptly found at our Miller County Sandhills Natural Area, which we purchased in 1992 and is just loaded with rare species,” said Theo Witsell, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission chief of research. “Then in 2019, the Sandhills Ground-cherry (Physalis macrosperma), a species with a narrow range in southwest Arkansas, northwest Louisiana and east Texas, was newly described from this same natural area.”
The specimens provided by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission to Ciafré and Naczi were critical to the discovery that Stiletto Beaksedge occurs in the Ozarks, which led researchers to pursue other Ozark material and find herbarium specimens of the plant from Missouri.
“The Ozark discoveries really fleshed out our understanding of the ecology of this rare species at a key point in the process – early enough that we could look for more specimens in a targeted way and have collaborators collect associate and soil data,” said Ciafré. “That wouldn’t have been possible without the specimens and expertise contributed by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.”
With only seven populations spread across four states, it is classified as G2 (globally imperiled) and S1 (critically imperiled within Arkansas). All but the Alabama population already occur on protected land, providing further evidence of the vital role of conservation efforts in protecting and maintaining biodiversity.
“This is how strategic, science-based conservation should work – we prioritize the highest quality examples of the rarest habitats for protection and our investments in conservation continue to pay big dividends decades later,” said Bill Holimon, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission director. “Rock Creek was identified by our staff as a priority site in the 1980s and added to the System of Natural Areas in 1991. Yet, here we are more than 30 years later, and it produces a discovery like this.”
For more information, contact Chief of Research Theo Witsell at theo.witsell@arkansas.gov or 501-324-9615.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI