bootstrap themes

Kentucky Glade Cress

A rare endemic flower to Bullitt County edging toward extinction

en·dem·ic

(of a plant or animal) native and restricted to a certain place.

Kentucky Glade Cress
(Leavenworthia exigua laciniata)

This small flower with lilac or white petals is found only in Bullitt and Jefferson counties and nowhere else on Earth.

The Kentucky glade cress is a small (two to four inches in height), annual plant that grows on areas of flat, thin soil. It occurs only in extreme southeastern Jefferson County and the northeastern portion of Bullitt County, Kentucky. A member of the mustard family, it typically blooms in late February to early March and has a small white to lilac colored flower.

The entire range of Kentucky glade cress is currently undergoing rapid residential and commercial development as the greater Louisville metropolitan area expands southward into southern Jefferson and northeastern Bullitt Counties. New residential developments are being added throughout the plant's range, along with associated road and utility construction.

Residential and commercial development and associated activities (e.g., grading, paving, sod farms, mowing, grazing, spraying) have destroyed and/or significantly degraded the preferred natural glade habitats for the Kentucky glade cress and left the majority of known occurrences occupying moderately to severely degraded sites, such as roadside rock outcrops, lawns, and heavily grazed pastures. The few remaining “natural” populations (those occurring in somewhat natural glades) are privately-owned, unprotected, and severely threatened by the same development pressures that have degraded or destroyed other occurrences and habitats for the Kentucky glade cress. The exceptions to this are Apple Valley Glade and Pine Creek Barrens, which are in conservation ownership by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission and The Nature Conservancy, respectively.

Now is the time to protect this flower.  

Mobirise
We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), designate critical habitat for Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata (Kentucky glade cress) under the Endangered Species Act (Act). In total, approximately 2,053 acres (830 hectares) in Bullitt and Jefferson Counties, Kentucky, fall within the boundaries of the critical habitat designation.

Critical Habitat Zones

Only 6 units (Critical Habitat Zones) exist in the world!

6 Critical Habitat Zone units only exist in Bullitt and Jefferson Counties, Kentucky

Within these areas, the primary constituent elements of the physical or biological features essential to the conservation of L. exigua var. laciniata require Cedar glades and gladelike areas that include:

1

Areas of rock outcrop, gravel, flagstone of Silurian dolomite or dolomitic limestone, and/or shallow (1 to 5 centimeters (0.393 to 1.97 inches)), calcareous soils.

2

Intact cyclic hydrologic regime involving saturation and/or inundation of the area in winter and early spring, then drying quickly in the summer.

3

Full or nearly full sunlight.                         

4

An undisturbed seed bank.
Vegetated land around glades and gladelike areas that extends up and down slope and ends at natural (e.g., stream, topographic contours) or manmade breaks (e.g., roads).                          

Mobirise

Information / Downloads

Important related articles and links

Mobirise

Status

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is
proposing to list Kentucky glade cress as a threatened species, and to designate critical habitat for the species in two Kentucky counties. 

Mobirise

Environmental Conservation Online System

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, designate critical habitat for Leavenworthia exigua var. laciniata (Kentucky glade cress) under the Endangered Species Act. 

Mobirise

Federal Registery

Disturbance in the form of development is a major factor in the loss and degradation of habitat for L. exigua var. laciniata. Development can directly eliminate or fragment essential habitat and indirectly cause changes to the habitat

Steps to Protect

Simple steps all residents of Bullitt County should take to protect the Kentucky Glade Cress

1

Protect Critical Habit Zones

Rampant development has nearly wiped this species off the face of the earth.  It is not talked about.  Planning and Zoning either do not care or are not educated or its rarity and existence in Bullitt County.  THE NEED TO PROTECT IS NOW.

2

Spread Information to Residents

Most residents of Mt.Washington do not know that there is a very special indigenous flower growing here.  Teaching and educating our residents is very important.  We should be very proud to be stewards of this rare flower.

3

Create Culture of Responsibility 

It has become the resposibilty of the residents of Bullitt County and Mt.Washington to protect this flower.  If left unprotected developement will kill it, destroy its habitat and it will be gone.
Its OUR responsibility to protect it.

Now is the time to protect

This species should be celebrated and cared for.  The city of Mt.Washington is situated in a very special corner of Kentucky.  The soil and karst topography can only be found here in Bullitt County and no where else in the world.  If you live in Mt.Washington or the surrounding county the protection of this species has fallen on your shoulders.  

It is time to take a responsible approach to preservation.  

CONTACT FORM

Do you want to help protect a species from extinction?  Contact us. Join a group of educated residents and protect the remaining habitat zones.

© Copyright 2020 site by Forest Hill Studios