Protecting the Beardless Chinchweed

By: Audrey Rader, BRN Restoration Project Manager
​
Historically, Pectis imberbis (beardless chinchweed) has been found in the Atascosa-Pajarito, Huachuca, Patagonia, and Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona. In recent decades, only six U.S. populations have been located, five of which have fewer than 50 individuals in the population. Of the six surviving populations, Coronado National Memorial has one population that accounts for over 62% of the total population. 

Pectis imberbis (beardless chinchweed)

On the contrary, invasive grasses also found in Coronado National Memorial, Eragrostis lehmanniana (Lehman's lovegrass) and Eragrostis curvula (weeping lovegrass), both have the tendency to "crowd out" native species and dominate landscapes.  

Beardless Chinchweed is a fragile, dainty aster that seemingly prefers to grow in wide open spaces or in the drip-line of trees in rocky/exposed soils. Removing the invasive grasses is crucial to improving habitat for this rare plant. ​

Last week BRN worked in Coronado doing some preventative care, hand-pulling patches of invasive grasses before they grew any larger or any nearer to the beardless chinchweed. New individuals were located and we established 48 monitoring plots. The  plots will help us to better understand beardless chinchweed and inform future restoration practices. These plots will also be utilized by researchers at Northern Arizona University who are interested in pollinator-plant interactions with this very special plant. 

​Thanks so much to Julie Crawford, Plant Ecologist from the US Fish and Wildlife Service,  Helen Fitting, Biologist with the National Park Service Southeast Arizona Group who allowed us to work at Coronado National Memorial and worked tirelessly to get compliance through, and Marcus Jernigan, Biological Science Technician with the Southwest Exotic Plant Management Team, National Park Service who was a genuine pleasure to work with and has a true wealth of knowledge on all things botany and southwest ecology.

​Our time in the field gave us a deeper appreciation for the beardless chinchweed,  and also for the hard work necessary to conserve rare plants. We had a lot of fun scrambling over Coronado National Memorial to locate these delicate flowers, pulling invasive grasses, and botanizing with project partners.  

​Where there used to be dense, invasive grass cover, dainty yellow blooms abound. As true outdoors enthusiasts, it is inspiring to see the influence of this work. It gives us hope for the future.

This project was possible thanks to collaboration and funding between the Arizona Department of Agriculture, US Fish and Wildlife Service. and Borderlands Restoration Network.