Gossypianthus lanuginosus (Poir.) Moq. in A.DC. (Amaranthaceae) in Kansas

Abstract

Specimens of cottonflower (Gossypianthus lanuginosus) were acquired in 1990 from southeastern Sumner County, Kansas. This acquisition documents a probable northward range extension of the otherwise widely distributed taxon. Plants were growing on salt-affected soils (slick spots), which supported little other plant life. Henrickson (1987) gives the general range of Gossypianthus lanuginosus as Oklahoma and Texas, southward into Mexico. The range given in the of the Great (Great Plains Flora Assoc., 1986) had the species (treated as Guilleminia lanuginosa (Poir.) Hook. L.) occurring in the western two-thirds of Oklahoma and Texas. On 13 October 1990, we acquired specimens of G. lanuginosus from Slate Creek Wetland (SCW) in southeastern Sumner County, Kansas (NW 1/4 SW 1/4 Sec 15, T33S, R2E, M.D. Proctor 467). This acquisition represented the northern-most known, the first report of the species in Kansas, and a probable range extension (Great Plains Flora Assoc., 1986; C. Freeman, Kansas Biological Survey, pers. comm., 1993). The species was collected from about 10 counties in Oklahoma based on holdings in the Bebb Herbarium, University of Oklahoma. The nearest locality for the species in Oklahoma was from Osage County, approximately 30 km southeast of SCW. Two varieties were reported to occur in Oklahoma, the typical variety and variety tenuiflorus (Hook.) Henrickson comb. et stat. nov (Henrickson, 1987). The specimens obtained at SCW were the typical varietyG. lanuginosus. A voucher specimen was deposited at the Elam Bartholomew Herbarium, Museum of the High Plains, Fort Hays State University. Additional specimens from SCW have been deposited at the herbaria of Southwestern College, University of Kansas, and University of Oklahoma. G. lanuginosus has been reported to occur in a variety of habitats including ' Present address: Oklahoma Biological Survey, 62 Elm Ave., Norman, OK 73019. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.169 on Sat, 01 Oct 2016 06:03:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms VOLUME 97, NUMBERS 1-2 65 stream valleys, dry sandy or rocky areas, prairies, open woodlands, and waste places (Great Plains Flora Assoc., 1986; Hendrickson, 1987). Our acquisition from SCW was from the Brewer complex, a silty clay loam with some salt-affected soils (slick spots) on the floodplain of Slate Creek, a tributary of the Arkansas River (Fenwick and Ratcliff, 1979). This habitat did not seem typical for the species because standing water was present for periods of time during the spring season of 1991 and 1992, often submerging the plants of Gossypianthus. We observed G. lanuginosus usually on slick spots, but this might have been an artifact of sparse vegetative cover on slick spots enhancing the visibility of G. lanuginosus. Associated species were Distichlis spicata (L.) Greene and Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Griff, both warm season grasses, and two species of Portulaca: P. olearacea L. and P. mundula I. M. Johnst. We suspected the range of this local population might have been expanding. On subsequent visits to SCW in August and October 1992, several specimens of G. lanuginosus were obtained more readily than our first acquisition in 1990. By 1992, the species was more well-represented and occurred over a larger area. We suspect the species will become established as a persistent member of the flora of the state, but there are some possible threats to its continued existence at this location. This population occurred on state-owned land (Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks) that has been subjected to varying degrees of disturbance (e.g., drainage, flooding, burning), which could adversely affect this and other species. This population is the first to be reported for Kansas and care should be exercised to preserve it. Elsewhere G. lanuginosus has a wide distribution, thus it is probably in little danger. It is a relatively small plant with inconspicuous flowers, thus continued collecting will hopefully reveal a substantially larger range within