Astragalus endopterus (Barneby) Barneby (1964:879)
Sandbar milkvetch
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Astragalus wootonii var. endopterus Barneby in Amer. Midl. Naturalist 41: 498 (1949)
Conservation Status
Last record: 1947 (Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2024); 10 June 1978 (Rink, 2024:205 contra Knapp et al., 2021)
Rediscovered in early June 2023 (Rink, 2024:207)
This species had been considered Extinct in some of the recent literature (Knapp et al., 2021; Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022; POWO, 2024), with a last record of 1947 (Knapp et al., 2021), and was identified as one of the 50 best candidates for de-extinction (ranking 2/50) (Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022). But representatives from two conservation GO's did not agree with this designation (in litt. cited in Rink, 2024:205-206), and at least one unpublished report (Rink & Embrey, 2023) considered that it might well still exist. It was Rediscovered in early June 2023 and was found to be locally common (Rink, 2024:207).
Inferred reasons for premature declarations of 'Extinct'
The taxon was assessed as GH (Possibly Extinct) by NatureServe in 2008 based upon a lack of records since 1978 (Rink, 2024:205,206), but in listing the taxon as Extinct Knapp et al. (2021) cite a last record of 1947 and thus were seemingly not aware of the three latest records of the taxon in 1961, 1972 and 1978 (Rink, 2024:205). Knapp et al. (2021) cite failed surveys for the 65 taxa they list as Extinct, but when they were specifically asked about surveys undertaken for A. endopterus they could not cite any (fide Rink, 2024: 206), with Rink (2024:210) further down acknowledging and being grateful for the open communication with the authors of Knapp et al. (2021). Rink (2024:208) also notes that lead author Wesley Knapp congratulated the wider team responsible for the rediscovery on their "amazing" find. The premature declaration of Extinction by Knapp et al. (2021) was likely the source used by the two later international (i.e. non-local) sources that also treated it as Extinct (i.e. Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022; POWO, 2024). Although it must be pointed out that Knapp et al. (2021) use the term 'extinct' to include 'possibly extinct', and thus was an escalation from NatureServe's GH (Possibly Extinct), and then perhaps unwittingly escalated again to simply Extinct in the strict sense by (Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022; POWO, 2024).
Distribution
Arizona, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Barneby, R. (1949). Pugillus Astragalorum X: New species, varieties and combinations. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 41(2): 498.
Other references:
Albani Rocchetti, Giulia, Carta, Angelino, Mondoni, Andrea, Godefroid, Sandrine, Davis, Charles C., Caneva, Giulia, Albrecht, Matthew A., Alvarado, Karla, Bijmoer, Roxali, Borosova, Renata, Bräuchler, Christian, Breman, Elinor, Briggs, Marie, Buord, Stephane, Cave, Lynette H., Da Silva, Nílber Gonçalves, Davey, Alexandra H., Davies, Rachael M., Dickie, John B., Fabillo, Melodina, Fleischmann, Andreas, Franks, Andrew, Hall, Geoffrey, Kantvilas, Gintaras, Klak, Cornelia, Liu, Udayangani, Medina, Leopoldo, Reinhammar, Lars Gunnar, Sebola, Ramagwai J., Schönberger, Ines, Sweeney, Patrick, Voglmayr, Hermann, White, Adam, Wieringa, Jan J., Zippel, Elke Zippel and Abeli, Thomas. (2022). Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria. Nature Plants 8: 1385-1393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01296-7 [Supplementary Tables S1-S6]
Barneby, R. (1964). Atlas of North American Astragalus. Mem. New York Bot. Gard 13: 879.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2023). Uitgestorven. Op plantenjacht rond de wereld: 1-511. Sterck & De Vreese.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2024). Plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae045 [Appendix S1]
Flora of North America Editorial Committee. (2023). Flora of North America North of Mexico 11(2): 543-1108. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 529. MIM, Deurne.
Isely, D. (1998). Native & naturalized Leg. of the USA. Brigham Young Univ. Utah.
Kartesz, J. T. (1994). A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Kennedy, Kathryn, Heidel, Bonnie and Gluesenkamp, Daniel. (2021). Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada. Conservation Biology 35(1): 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621 [Supporting Information (Appendix S1)]
POWO. (2024). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 25 May 2024]
Rink, Glenn. (2024). Astragalus endopterus (Fabaceae), a species purported as extinct, found in northern Arizona, U.S.A. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 18(1): 205-210. https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v18.i1.1349
Rink, Glenn and Embrey, T. (2023). Survey for Astragalus endopterus (Barneby) Barneby (Fabaceae) Coconino and Navajo counties, Arizona June and July, 2023. Final Section 6 Report, Segment 28: Reference #2022-2024-09, unpublished report for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.A.
Walter, Kerry S. and Gillett, Harriet J. (eds.). (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK: IUCN – The World Conservation Union. lxiv + 862 pp.
Welsh, S. L. (2023). Astragalus. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). Flora of North America North of Mexico. Vol. 11. Magnoliophyta: Fabaceae, parts 1+2. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxvii + 1108 pp. [11(2): 584-900]
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