| Abstrakt: |
The article focuses on Virginia sneezeweed located in the central U.S. Virginia sneezeweed is a small herb with a branching stem above the inflorescence, a simple stem below, and winged by ruffles of tissue that run up and down the stem. Basal leaves form a rosette and are doffed with glands. Virginia sneezeweed, which is federally listed as threatened, grows on the moist borders of seasonally wet sinkhole ponds and meadows in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and in the Ozark Highlands of Missouri. It is found in natural wetlands associated with dolomite and limestone geology that is subject to fluctuating water levels varying both seasonally and annually. Habitat destruction led to the decline of the species in Virginia, and by the 1990s fewer than 25 populations existed. The Missouri Department of Conservation initiated a partnership with the landowner, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Center for Plant Conservation. Conservationists in Missouri are feeling good about the status of Virginia sneezeweed in the state. |
