A Natural Areas Inventory of the - Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory ...

limestone derivation. After the 2003 field season, a total of 18 families, 32 genera, 43 species of
bryophytes are reported from FLMR.
Federal-listed Species
Several hours were spent in 2003 surveying potential habitat for the three federally protected
species discussed by Freeman et al. (1997). No evidence was found that any of these species
occur on the installation. Given the paucity of suitable prairie habitat for Asclepias meadii Torr.
ex A. Gray (Asclepiadaceae; Mead's milkweed) and Platanthera praeclara Shev. & M. Bowles
(Orchidaceae; western prairie fringed orchid), it is unlikely that either species occurs on FLMR.
Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. ex Eaton (Fabaceae; running buffalo clover) has not been observed
in Kansas since 1885 (Brooks and Freeman 1989) and it remains highly unlikely that this species
will be discovered on FLMR.
State-rare Species
At least one occurrence of each of 11 state-rare vascular plant taxa was documented on FLMR
during the 1995–1996 field seasons and reported by Freeman et al. (1997). During the 2003 field
season, nine of these taxa were confirmed as persisting on the installation. In addition, three
state-rare taxa reported by Freeman et al. (1997) as occurring on FLMR but not included among
the state-rare species discussed by those authors were confirmed as persisting on the installation,
and seven state-rare taxa were documented as occurring there for the first time. Of the seven
state-rare taxa discovered on FLMR in 2003, six are reported here for the first time for
Leavenworth County. Altogether, 13 of these state-rare species occur in upland forest habitats,
two occur both in upland and floodplain forest habitats, three occur in floodplain forest habitat,
one occurs in open floodplain habitats, and one occurs in wetland habitats along the Missouri
River. Species accounts for each of these 21 taxa are presented below, arranged in alphabetical
order. Element occurrence records for all taxa, including element occurrence code, state rank,
locations of populations and subpopulations for taxa observed in 2003, and date of last
observation for each taxon are summarized in Table 4.7.
Aster lateriflorus (L.) Britton var. lateriflorus (Asteraceae; white woodland aster) was first
discovered in Kansas on FLMR during plant surveys in the 1995–1996 field seasons by J. Elliott
and C. C. Freeman and reported as new to the state by Freeman et al. (1998). Observations
during the 2003 field season confirmed that white woodland aster comprises at least three
sizeable subpopulations in mesic ravines in White oak-Shagbark hickory Forest (Table 4.7,
occurrences 1 and 2) and Maple-Basswood Forest (Table 4.7, occurrence 3) (Figure 4.1), where it
is often found with a similar, more common congener, Aster ontarionis. To date, this herbaceous
perennial is known in Kansas only from populations on FLMR.
A small population of the perennial herb Blephilia hirsuta (Pursh) Benth. (Lamiaceae; hairy
wood-mint) was discovered at the edge of a trail in White oak-Shagbark hickory Forest west of
the National Cemetery during the 1995–1996 field seasons. This species has been collected on
four separate occasions in three counties in northeastern Kansas. Only one other collection,
made in 1992, is recent enough to be considered to represent an extant population. Efforts to
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