Harperocallis flava

Previously thought to be a monotypic genus, Campbell and Dorr (2013) and Remizowa et al. (2011), on the basis floral morphology, determined that Harperocallis is congeneric with Isidrogalvia. South American members of two other genera, Asagraea and Tofieldia, were also transferred to Harperocallis. Harperocallis flava is the only member of the genus occurring outside of South America.

Endemic to Franklin, Liberty and Bay (population discovered in 2003) counties in the panhandle of Florida and restricted to open, boggy habitats. Possibly because of the exclusion of periodic fire from much of this region, some of the populations are restricted to the shoulders of a single highway, where competitive shrubs have been eliminated. The total population was estimated at 6000 plants in 1983 by Leonard and Baker. Since then many populations have declined and a number of studies examining the environmental factors that have the greatest influence on the species postulate that precipitation and competition for nutrients may be the most influential. Lack of fire and other disturbance is another possible reason for decline, but in one study where one of the populations was burned, a decline was also observed.

While there are 8 occurrences that are ranked with good viability, this species' intrinsic vulnerability is quite high. Genetic studies revealed that of all of the genetic loci examined, there was no genetic variability detected, which suggests this species is, from a genetic perspective, at a high risk for extinction. In addition, there are other developmental abnormalities that have been observed within the species that suggest genetic instability. Given the very small distribution, the decline in the recent past, the genetic constraints and the anthropogenic threats, this species' future is precarious.

Harperocallis flava is endemic to Florida and occurring in Franklin, Liberty and Bay Counties. In 2003, a population was discovered in Bay County and in 2015, one new Harper's Beauty population was discovered on the east side of the New River, all other populations of this species are west of the New River and east fo the Appalachicola River. Range extent was calculated at 821.1 square km using GeoCat (Bachman et al. 2018).

There are 29 occurrences as of 2018 but three are likely not extant. 24 occurrences have been verified extant by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory between 2013-2017 (NatureServe Network Database as of April 2018).

The greatest long term threat to this species is loss of habitat (Walker and Silletti 2005), and fire exclusion. Natural populations are severely threatened by fire exclusion (causing woody encroachment) and hydrologic disturbances. Several populations occur along roadsides, so any disruption of roadside vegetation (power pole maintenance, road maintenance activities, etc.) would threaten populations on the road shoulder. This species was discovered to contain no genetic variation, at either the roadside populations or the more natural populations by Godt et al. (1997) and low genetic diversity by von Wettburg (USFWS 2016). The lack of genetic variation affords the species no room to adapt as the environment changes and therefore is more at risk of extinction than other species with similar characteristics. Also, Harper's Beauty exhibits polycarpelly, a condition where flowers produce anywhere from 3 to 6 carpels, and these multicarpellate flowers outnumber the usual tricarpellate flowers. Polycarpelly is thought to be a result of individual instability, and in this species it may be an indication of genetic stress (Godt et al. 1997). It should be pointed out that the study done by Godt et al. (1997) was completed before the Bay Co. population was discovered, so it is unknown what if any genetic variation exists in that population compared to the others.