Photo's
added by Big Library:
Tennessee Yellow-Eyed Grass (Xyris tennesseensis)
Mike Hardig, an associate professor of biology at the
University of Montevallo, has discovered an endangered species on the western margin of Ebenezer Wetlands. I have a statement below from him about this find. As you can see, the yellow-eyed grass is a federally protected endangered plant species!
George Henry
"Last week (8/16/05), while out in Ebenezer Swamp mapping the many springs, seeps, bogs, and streams that permeate the area, I stepped out of the darkness of the swamp forest into a brightly lit glade along its western margin. There, growing in a seep area around a spring, I found a large population of Xyris tennesseensis (the Tennessee Yellow-Eyed grass) a federally protected endangered plant species. (A description of the species, its habits, and threats can be found at
http://sciences.aum.edu/BI/bi4543/xyte.html.) To confirm my preliminary identification I invited Al Schotz, a botanist with the Alabama Natural Heritage Program, out to the site the following Sunday morning. Al confirmed the identification and also spotted a second species, as yet unnamed, of Yellow-Eyed grass at the site. This second species was first discovered several years ago growing on the Bibb County Ketona Dolomite glades and is currently being described and named by another botanist."
Mike Hardig
Associate Professor of Biology
University of Montevallo
205-665-6463
I also have a statement below that I received from Al Schotz, a botanist and community ecologist with the Alabama Natural Heritage Program. He verified the discovery when he visited Ebenezer Wetlands. His office number is 334-833-4061.
"The Tennessee yellow-eyed grass (Xyris tennesseensis) is a globally imperiled herb restricted to approximately 19 known sites across northern Alabama and adjacent areas of Tennessee and Georgia. Because of its specialized habitat requirements, small number of known populations, and perceived threats to the species, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service found it necessary to protect the species under the Endangered Species Act. The
Tennessee yellow-eyed grass was officially listed as an endangered species on July 26, 1991. Dr. Robert Kral, formerly of
Vanderbilt University, first brought the attention of the species to the scientific world in 1978, describing it as a new species based on taxonomic studies on the yellow-eyed grass family in the Southeast. The most recent discovery near Montevallo, Shelby County, Alabama, by University of Montevallo Professor, Mike Hardig, represents a significant contribution toward the understanding of the state's flora and an opportunity toward safeguarding a component of Alabama's natural heritage."
Al Schotz
Alabama Natural Heritage Program
