Botanical Sleuthing Recovers Endangered Maguire Daisy

Today we’re unveiling our ‘Mind the Gap’ series, which dives deeper into stories that we feel deserved a bit more attention.  Each piece will contain it’s own “gap” to mind and the first reader to leave a comment with the missing word will get their name added to the blog and will receive a sweet new BenchFly mug!

The other day I was cruising the Nature News website, you know, just for kicks, and I came across one of the most positive pieces of news I’d read in a while. On January 18^th, a species was removed from the endangered species list due to recovery.

Since the Endangered Species Act (E.S.A.) was signed by Nixon in 1973 only 21 species in North America have been delisted due to recovery. Some notable ex-list members include the gray wolf (delisted 2009), the northern flying squirrel (delisted 2008), and the bald eagle (delisted 2007). More often than not however, species leave the list the hard way, by extinction.

The Maguire daisy is a member of the sunflower family, and looks a lot like the daisies we used to string into chains when I was a child. It has the same small white or pink flowers, although its stems are woodier and its leaves hairier. These features likely evolved to help the plant survive in its dry, rocky habitat.

Erigon maguirei was put on the endangered species list in 1985, at which time there were only seven of these plants left in Utah. Excessive mineral exploration and off-road vehicle recreation were to blame for this mountain dwelling perennial’s decline. One of the key features of the E.S.A. is that once a species is listed as endangered, it is entitled to protection. A large effort was made to restore the natural habitat of the Maguire daisy, and this was reflected in a gradually increasing population.

The Maguire Daisy

But botanists, who discovered that Erigon maguirei var. harrisonii was the same plant, made the biggest impact. This plant has always flourished in Capitol Reef National Park, and as a different variety of the species was not originally counted when the Maguire daisy was initially classified as endangered.

The press release provided by the US Department of the Interior noted that the conservation of native plants is important for “ecological, economic, and aesthetic values” and then went on to mention the application of plant-derived chemicals in modern medicine. This naturally prompted me to search PubMed to see if plants of the Erigon species have been shown to contain medicinal compounds. Sure enough, Erigon canadensis extract has anti-coagulant properties and could potentially ease certain blood disorders. Erigon breviscapus tablets can in fact be purchased, and are often taken by stroke victims to prevent relapse. This species has also been suggested to help treat glaucoma patients. And of course we’re all familiar with the calming effects of Maguire’s cousin, Matricaria chamomilla. Who knows what medicinal powers the Maguire daisy is harboring.

Today, 99% of the Maguire daisy population resides on federally owned land, and as such should be protected against “relisting”. Sadly this kind of successful protection and recovery is rare. On a worldwide scale, 26,000 species remain close to extinction. While not ubiquitously the case, human activity is largely to blame. Hopefully more constructive human activity, such as the conservation efforts that saved this daisy, can save at least some of these endangered species.

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Katie Pratt is a graduate student in Molecular Biology at Brown University. She has a passion for science communication, and in an attempt to bring hardcore biology and medicine to everyone, she blogs jargon-free at www.katiephd.com. Follow her escapades in the lab and online on Twitter.

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Be the first one to mind the gap by leaving the missing word as a comment and get your name in the blog along with a sweet new BenchFly mug!

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UPDATE:

Congratulations to Jonathan – winner of our inaugural Mind the Gap competition!

About the winner: My name is Jonathan and I’m a lab technician for Eprogen, a small biotech company outside Chicago.  When at work, you can find me listening to heavy metal while trying to cure cancer.

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About the prize: In addition to fame and glory beyond their wildest dreams, winners receive our new hot-off-the-presses large (15 oz) BenchFly mug to help quench their unending thirst for scientific knowledge… or coffee.

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