(Above)Image source: http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/ASP/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=1118
Organism: The Terlingua Creek Cat's-eye is a flowering plant found in "badlands almost devoid of vegetation, with low rolling hills covered with platelets of creamy-yellow limestone (probably with a high level of gypsum)". It is said that this plant blooms primarily March-May; with fruit probably marutring April-June.
Status: ENDANGERED: This plant was listed on September 30, 1991
To a bioprospector, the tempeture under which this plant survives is important. The fact that this is a flowering plant is also important for a bioprospector. They would also find it interesting that these plants grow up to six feet apart from each other.
Threat: This plant is known to exist only in a small 100 mile radius. The land is all privately owned. Human habitation is a threat and just like global warming human habitation and development threaten this rare plant. The more that humans mess with the natural habitat of these plants the less likely they will be to thrive. Also, I would think that as the climate changes, so does the necessary enviornment for these plants.
SourcesClassification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Species Cryptantha Crassipes I.M. Johnst." USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. 11 June 2008 http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=CRCR7&display=31.
"Cryptantha Crassipes." ZipCode Zoo. 10 June 2008. 10 June 2008 http://zipcodezoo.com/Plants/C/Cryptantha_crassipes.asp.
Rice, Kathleen C. "Cryptantha Crassipes." Center for Plant Conservation. 9 June 2008 http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/ASP/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=1118.
"Terlingua Creek Cat's-Eye (Cryptantha Crassipes)." Texas Parks and Wildlife. 11 Apr. 2007. 8 June 2008 http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/terlingu/.
"Terlingua Creek Cat's-Eye (Cryptantha Crassipes)." US Fish and Wildlife Services. 11 June 2008 http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/SpeciesReport.do?spcode=Q27U.
