The Endangered Species List 2013: Top Ten Most Endangered Plants
1. Western Prairie Fringed Orchid
Platanthera praeclara only exists in five U.S. states in the Midwest. The Endangered Species Coalition estimates that there are only 172 populations of this plant, with merely four with more than 1,000 plants. This is a wetland plant that grows in “prairie potholes”, indents left by glaciers in the recent ice age, 20,000 years ago. The main threats to this plant are development, overgrazing, fires, and global warming.
2. Rafflesia Flower
Rafflesia arnoldii is thought to be the largest flower on the planet. The flower itself does not have a structural stem, leaves, or roots. But what it does have is the pungent odors of decomposing flesh, hence the nickname corpse flower. It grows three feet in diameter, and weighs up to 24 pounds. The Rafflesia is parasitic, growing on the Tetrastigma vine in the forests of Borneo and Sumatra.
3. Georgia Aster
Symphyotrichum georgianum is native to southeastern United States. According to NatureServe.com, a conservation organization, this plant first grew in small clumps, but now there are about 60 populations of this plant due to natural habitat development. . . .
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