COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Hoary Mountain-mint in Canada 2000
Table of Contents
COSEWIC status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This report may be cited as follows:
Please note: Persons wishing to cite data in the report should refer to the report (and cite the author(s)); persons wishing to cite the COSEWIC status will refer to the assessment (and cite COSEWIC). A production note will be provided if additional information on the status report history is required.
COSEWIC 2000. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Hoary Mountain-mint Pycnanthemum incanum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 6 pp.
White, D.J. 1998. Update COSEWIC status report on the Hoary Mountain-mint Pycnanthemum incanum in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. 1-6 pp.
Previous report:
Également disponible en français sous le titre Rapport du COSEPAC sur la situation du pycnanthème gris (Pycnanthemum incanum) au Canada – Mise à jour
Cover illustration:
Hoary Mountain-mint -- Reprinted with permission from The New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (Volume 3), copyright 1952. The New York Botanical Garden.
©Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2002
Catalogue No. CW69-14/137-2002E-IN
ISBN 0-662-32113-8
COSEWIC Assessment Summary
Common name : Hoary Mountain-mint
Scientific name : Pycnanthemum incanum
Status : Endangered
Reason for designation : Two very small nearby populations with drastic decline in plant numbers and increased threat from exotic plants.
Occurrence : Ontario
Status history : Designated Endangered in April 1986. Status re-examined and confirmed Endangered in April 1998 and in May 2000. May 2000 assessment based on new quantitative criteria applied to information from the existing 1998 status report.
COSEWIC Executive Summary
Description
Hoary Mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum incanum) is a conspicuous, hairy, and fragrant member of the mint family that grows to one metre in height. The plant has broad, opposite, toothed leaves that occur all the way up the stem into the inflorescence. The roundish flower clusters occur primarily at the top of the stem and in the upper leaf axils. The small individual flowers are white with purple spots.
Distribution
The species occurs in the United States from New England and southern Illinois south to South Carolina. Its only Canadian occurrence is in southern Ontario at two locations that are less than two kilometres apart.
Habitat
This plant requires open, dry, sandy-clay habitats in open-canopied deciduous woods on warmer-than-normal slopes that can be very steep.
General biology
Hoary Mountain-mint is reproducing in Ontario largely vegetatively with no evidence of new stems that have come from seed. Thus, the small number of plants at the Willow Point site--along with only one plant at the Woodland Cemetery station--leaves the species in a very precarious position if it is not spreading from seed.
Population size and trends
This species is known from only two nearby sites in southwestern Ontario. It appears to be relatively stable at one site where competing shrubby vegetation is being removed. The other population has declined drastically since 1993. A third site found in 1991 cannot be relocated and may have disappeared.
Limiting factors and threats
The primary limiting factor is lack of suitable open, south-facing slopes. Shoreline erosion and encroachment by competing shrubby vegetation are the main threats.
Existing protection
Hoary Mountain-Mint is protected under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. Both known stations are on private property.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) determines the national status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, and nationally significant populations that are considered to be at risk in Canada. Designations are made on all native species for the following taxonomic groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, lepidopterans, molluscs, vascular plants, lichens, and mosses.
COSEWIC comprises representatives from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal agencies (Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Federal Biosystematic Partnership), three nonjurisdictional members and the co-chairs of the species specialist groups. The committee meets to consider status reports on candidate species.
Species: Any indigenous species, subspecies, variety, or geographically defined population of wild fauna and flora.
Extinct (X) : A species that no longer exists.
Extirpated (XT) : A species no longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere.
Endangered (E) : A species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.
Threatened (T) : A species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.
Special Concern (SC)* : A species of special concern because of characteristics that make it particularly sensitive to human activities or natural events.
Not at Risk (NAR)* : A species that has been evaluated and found to be not at risk.
Data Deficient (DD)*** : A species for which there is insufficient scientific information to support status designation.
* : Formerly described as “Vulnerable” from 1990 to 1999, or “Rare” prior to 1990.
** : Formerly described as “Not In Any Category”, or “No Designation Required.”
*** : Formerly described as “Indeterminate” from 1994 to 1999 or “ISIBD” (insufficient scientific information on which to base a designation) prior to 1994.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was created in 1977 as a result of a recommendation at the Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference held in 1976. It arose from the need for a single, official, scientifically sound, national listing of wildlife species at risk. In 1978, COSEWIC designated its first species and produced its first list of Canadian species at risk. Species designated at meetings of the full committee are added to the list.
Environment Canada Environnement Canada
Canadian Wildlife Service Service canadien de la faune
The Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, provides full administrative and financial support to the COSEWIC Secretariat.
Introduction
Hoary Mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum incanum (L.) Michx.) was designated as endangered in 1986 based on a small population in Canada at Willow Point adjacent to the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Burlington (Crins, 1986). Hoary Mountain-mint requires open, dry, sandy-clay habitats in open-canopied deciduous woods on warmer-than-normal slopes (Crins, 1986).
Distribution
Hoary Mountain-mint occurs in the United States from New England and southern Illinois south to South Carolina. Its only Canadian occurrence is in southern Ontario. There are two extant locations: Willow Point in Burlington and Woodland Cemetery in Hamilton. Although the two sites occur in different jurisdictions, they are less than two kilometres apart (Figure 1).
Protection
Since the designation of Hoary Mountain-mint as an endangered species by COSEWIC, the species has been protected under the Ontario Endangered Species Act. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has had discussions with the property owners of the two sites and the owners are aware of the presence of Hoary Mountain-mint (D. Kirk, pers. com., 1997). Don Kirk, Natural Heritage Ecologist, Cambridge District office of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, has been monitoring the sites for a number of years. In 1994 Don noticed that the Hoary Mountain-mint plants at Willow Point were becoming overgrown, were diminished in size, and were hard to find. Although no formal recovery plan has been developed for Hoary Mountain-mint, Kirk did some manual clearing of competing shrubby vegetation at the Willow Point site in 1995 and 1996 (D. Kirk, pers. com., 1997).
Population Sizes and Trends
The Willow Point colony was first found in 1981 (Crins, 1986) and in 1984 the colony consisted of 41 stems. In 1986 there were about 40 stems (Oldham, 1997). Stems were not counted in 1994 and 1995 but Don Kirk (pers. com., 1997) noted that the plants were diminished in size and hard to find because of the shrubby vegetation that was taking over the clearing in which the Hoary Mountain-mint occurred. Don Kirk and the present author counted 48 stems at the site in July 1997.
A new site was found in 1991 adjacent to the Woodland Cemetery by Dave Bradley who was conducting natural area inventories in Hamilton–Wentworth. The new site consisted of 35 stems in one clump (probably all part of one plant) and four single stems (Bradley, 1991). Don Kirk visited the site in 1993 and counted approximately the same number of stems (Don Kirk, pers. com., 1997). Don and the present author counted only one stem at the site (where the 35-stem clump had previously occurred) in July 1997.
Another site – consisting of a single stem – was found in 1991 at the Carrolls Point sand spit by Dave Bradley while conducting natural area inventories in Hamilton-Wentworth. Later in 1991, Don Kirk and Daryl Coulson searched the site and found 3 plants with numerous stems at this new location (Bradley, 1991). Don Kirk and the present author found no Hoary Mountain-mint at the site in July 1997.
There is a 1971 record of Hoary Mountain-mint from an area between the Willow Point location and the site at the Woodland Cemetery. The exact locality is unknown and the species has not been seen in that area since 1971 (D. Kirk, pers. com., 1997).
There are other historical records (with vague locality data) from the general vicinity of the four localities documented above that have not been reconfirmed for nearly 100 years (Crins, 1986). These records may have come from one of the four localities or the plants may be assumed to have been extirpated at these historic sites.
Detailed site information has been provided to the Co-chair, Species Specialist Group for Vascular Plants, Mosses and Lichens (COSEWIC).
Habitat
Hoary Mountain-mint requires open, dry, sandy-clay habitats in open-canopied deciduous woods on warmer-than-normal slopes (Crins, 1986). The Woodland Cemetery population occurs in a relatively large opening in the forest that could be described as a ‘hanging prairie’. The site is a very steep, south-facing slope dominated by the prairie grasses Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii).
Biology
Crins (1986) felt that Hoary Mountain-mint was reproducing in Ontario largely vegetatively and saw no evidence of new stems that had come from seed. Although the Willow Point colony had 48 stems in 1997, the number of plants was not determined and is certainly much less than the stem count. Thus, the small number of plants at the Willow Point site--along with only one plant at the Woodland Cemetery station--leaves the species in a very precarious position if it is not spreading from seed.
Limiting Factors
Habitat disturbance by operations related to the adjacent cemetery and encroachment by shrubs are the main threat at the Willow Point site. The Woodland Cemetery site is most at risk from shoreline erosion and slumping. Although the latter site is quite open at present, encroachment by shrubs could also be a factor here in the future. Since the Carrolls Point colony was found in 1991, the point has become overrun with the invasive aliens Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) and Tartarian Honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica) (D. Kirk and D. White, pers. obs., 1997).
Evaluation and Status Recommendation
When the status designation of endangered was assigned in 1986, Hoary Mountain-mint was known from one site in Burlington. Since that time, it has been found at two new sites nearby, however, one site has since disappeared and the other site has only one stem and is now very precarious. Thus, there is little reason to change the designation of endangered status for Hoary Mountain-Mint.
Acknowledgements
Don Kirk, Natural Heritage Ecologist, Cambridge District, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, took the author to all known sites and provided much background information. Mike Oldham, Botanist, Natural Heritage Information Centre, Peterborough, provided a listing of known specimens and records with details of recent confirmations. Funding provided by the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada.
Literature Cited
Bradley, D. 1991. Unusual species report for Pycnanthemum incanum. Hamilton-Wentworth Natural Areas Inventory. Unpublished. 3 pp.
Crins, W.J. 1986. COSEWIC status report on the Hoary Mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum incanum) in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa. Unpublished report. 22 pp.
Oldham, M.J. 1997. Element Occurrence records of Hoary Mountain-mint (Pycnanthemum incanum) from the database of the Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough. 2 pp.
The Author
David J. White has a B.Sc. in biology and has been conducting natural area inventories and evaluating the status and significance of rare plants for more than 25 years. He began doing field surveys in 1972 for the International Biological Program. From 1973 to 1983, David was employed by the Canadian Museum of Nature as a research technician. During that period he co-authored a number of publications on rare plants, including the Atlas of the Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario. From 1984 to the present, David has worked as a self-employed life science consultant. He has completed projects ranging from natural area inventories and evaluations to reports on invasive species. David has previously written COSEWIC status reports on Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium), Golden-seal (Hydrastis canadensis), and Branched Bartonia (Bartonia paniculata).
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