Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.153398
Element CodePMCOM0B0R0
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassMonocotyledoneae
OrderCommelinales
FamilyCommelinaceae
GenusTradescantia
Concept ReferenceKartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Taxonomic CommentsVarieties are questionable, since the type of T. wrightii has some pubescence as well (R. Faden, FNA review draft, 5/98).
Tradescantia wrightii Rose & Bush as considered here includes T. w. var. glandulopubescens B.L. Turner, although Kartesz (1999) recognizes this variety.
Conservation Status
Review Date1999-12-31
Change Date2000-01-31
Edition Date2000-01-28
Edition AuthorsWilliam R. Carr
Range Extent20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 to >300
Rank ReasonsTradescantia wrightii occurs in calcareous habitats in the desert mountains of New Mexico and west Texas in the U.S. and northern Coahuila and Chihuahua in Mexico. Because it is comparatively common and faces no obvious threats, it has never been treated as a target of field surveys. Little information is available about particular occurrences, but more than 100 are suspected given its relatively broad range and nondescript habitat.
Range Extent CommentsTradescantia wrightii is endemic to the mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert region in Trans-Pecos Texas, south-central New Mexico and adjacent northern Coahuila and Chihuahua in Mexico (D. Hunt in Henrickson and Johnston, A flora of the Chihuahuan Desert region, in preparation; Turner, 1983). In Texas it occurs in the mountains (Chisos, Franklin, Glass, Guadalupe, Hueco, Sierra Diablo) of Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth and El Paso counties (Turner, 1983; TEX-LL, 1999). In New Mexico is has been found in the Ladron and Sacramento mountains in Lincoln, Otero and Socorro counties (Sara Gottlieb, pers. comm., 1999).
Occurrences CommentsInformation about occurrences of Tradescantia wrightii is limited because the taxon is not tracked (monitored) by either of the Heritage programs of the states in which it occurs. Given its range over 7 counties in Texas and New Mexico south into Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico, more than 100 occurrences can be expected.
Threat Impact CommentsThreats to this species are probably few and local. It could be consumed by livestock, but livestock are few in number in most of its range. Development threats are non-existent in the vast majority of its montane habitat.