Oreocarya crassipes | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Boraginales |
Family: | Boraginaceae |
Genus: | Oreocarya |
Species: | O. crassipes
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Binomial name | |
Oreocarya crassipes (I.M.Johnst.) Hasenstab & M.G.Simpson
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Synonyms[2] | |
Cryptantha crassipes I.M.Johnst. |
Oreocarya crassipes is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name Terlingua Creek cat's-eye. It is endemic to Brewster County, Texas, where it is known from only ten populations totaling about 5000 plants.[3] All of the occurrences are within a ten-kilometer radius.[1] This is a federally listed endangered species.
This is a perennial herb producing several erect stems reaching a maximum height around 25 centimeters. There is a clump of basal leaves around the stem bases. The herbage is covered in silvery soft and bristly hairs. The inflorescence is a head of yellow-throated white flowers.[1] The plants are often coated in a sooty black fungus.[3]
This plant grows only on the Fizzle Flat lentil, a small geologic formation in the Terlingua Creek watershed just north of Big Bend National Park.[3][4] This lentil is a unique expanse of limestone rock which is rich in gypsum and bound with clay. The formation, which locals call a "moonscape",[4] is pale yellow in color because of its mineral makeup and about 50 feet thick.[5] The chalky rock breaks into plates and contains many fossils. The area is very dry and it receives full, hot sunlight.[3][1][6] The lentil is almost totally devoid of plant life; this species and other hardy plants, such as Castilleja elongata and Lycium berberioides, occur around the edge of the lentil.[3][1]
The rare plant is limited to a specific substrate. The area is affected by human activity in several ways. The land is all privately owned and unprotected. Off-road vehicles drive on the badlands, which are used both in the mining of bentonite and for access in the grazing of livestock in the area.[3][1]