Today, one of my stops was to check on the health of the Short’s Hedgehyssop (Gratiola viscidula Pennell) population. You see, the Short’s Hedgehyssop is listed as a state endangered species by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program. (For more details – click here.)
I first found this member of the Plantaginaceae family on the North Tract in July 2011 thriving on the muddy shore of a pond. There were several clumps of it, it was in full bloom and appeared to be very healthy. Before my discovery of this population, there was only one other known population in Maryland, and that was on the refuge’s Central Tract. In August 2011, another plant enthusiast Dwight Johnson and I looked for it but failed to find it.
Last year the plants were partially covered by water as the water level in the pond had risen a bit. This year, they were completely inundated and did not look very healthy. Further investigation revealed that some beavers had blocked the outlet to the pond and that was why the water was higher. A couple of weeks ago, refuge staff removed the debris from the outlet and the water level receded to a level just higher than it was in 2012.
Although most of the plants were submerged today, there were a several stems poking up above the water some distance from the main submerged clumps. A couple of stems were actually making their presence known on the muddy areas just above the water level. Even so, all of these stems would have been underwater were it not for the refuge staff clearing out the debris placed by the beavers at the pond’s outlet.
Continued monitoring of the plant population’s health and of the water level of the pond may be necessary for the plant’s future survival at this site.
.
