Endangered Species
Midwest Region

 

 

Map of Region 3 Minnesota Wisconsin Michigan

Box outline
Box outline

 

Connect With Us

Facebook icon

Flickr icon

RSS

Twitter icon

YouTube icon

 
Buy Duck Stamps icon Endangered Species Day icon

Great Lake Restoration Initiative logo

Missouri bladderpod

(Lesquerella filiformis)

The Missouri bladderpod is a small annual plant, about 4 to 8 inches tall, with distinctive canary-yellow flowers cluster at the top of the stems and bloom from April to May. It grows strictly in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. It probably never grew beyond this range but was known from only nine sites in three counties when it was first listed as endangered in 1987. After more surveys and actions undertaken to conserve the bladderpod, the number of documented populations increased to 61 sites in 4 counties in Missouri and 2 sites in 2 counties in Arkansas.

 

Missouri bladderpods grow mostly in open limestone glades; but it has been found on one dolomite glade in Arkansas. Glades are naturally dry, treeless areas with shallow, loose soil and areas of exposed rock. Glades are described by the underlying rock (e.g., limestone or dolomite). Sometimes the bladderpod is found on highway rights-of-way and pastures where mowing and grazing have kept the area open. Occasionally it is found in open rocky woods.

 

Missouri bladderpod

Photo by Missouri Department of Conservation; Jim Rathert

 

Status: Threatened

Reclassified to threatened Oct. 15, 2003

Listed as Endangered on January 8, 1987

 

Habitat: Open glades in shallow limestone soils

 

Lead Region: 3

 

Region 3 Lead Office: ColumbiaES, Missouri Field Office

 

Range: Missouri

 

Natural History, Ecology, and Regulatory Information

Federal Register Final Rule: Technical Corrections for Three Midwest Region Plant Species (Sept. 14, 2010) - - includes Missouri bladderpod

 

Fact sheet


Species Profile - links to the National USFWS website

 

We're Glad to Have Glades (pdf) article in the Endangered Species Technical Bulletin

 

Recovery

5-Year Review (2015)Adobe PDF Icon

 

5-Year Review (2008)Adobe PDF Icon

 

Recovery on the Horizon

 

Reclassifiction from Endangered to Threatened

News Release (October 15, 2003) - Rare Plant Rebounds; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Downlists Status of Missouri Bladderpod from Endangered to Threatened html - pdf

 

Federal Register Notice Reclassification of Lesquerella filiformis (Missouri Bladderpod) From Endangered to Threatened Adobe PDF Icon

 

Fact Sheet - Questions and Answers About the Reclassification of the Missouri Bladderpod from Endangered to Threatened html - pdf

 

Plants

Midwest Endangered Species

 
Last updated: April 11, 2016