Kelseya

Kelseya uniflora is a perennial limestone endemic that grows in cracks of volcanic and limestone outcrops at 1500-3500 m elevation.{{cite web |title=Kelseya uniflora |url=http://encyclopaedia.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/Kelseya/uniflora |website=The Alpine Garden Society Plant Encyclopedia |publisher=The Alpine Garden Society |access-date=29 July 2021}} It is native in 3 states in Northwestern USA: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.{{cite web |title=Kelseya uniflora (S. Watson) Rydb. |url=https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=KEUN |website=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=29 July 2021}} It typically grows as a solitary plant in a sun-exposed position as a ground covering subshrub. This species has also been reported in riparian woodland but this should be considered an outlier.{{cite book |title=Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area (N.R.A.), General Management Plan (GMP) and Wilderness Recommendation (MT, WY) |date=1981 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7UI3AQAAMAAJ |access-date=2 August 2021}}{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Tim |title=CRC Ethnobotany Desk Reference |date=23 July 2019 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9781351087841 |page=56 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSSlDwAAQBAJ |access-date=2 August 2021}} Their most prolific growth is on the South Summit of Hunt Mountain in the Bighorn Mountains where it grows on Karst features.

This species rarely measures more than 10 cm tall but often achieves 1 m or more in diameter. Their habit is an adaptation to the wind-blast exposed rocky ridges they grow on alongside cushion plant communities.{{cite book |last1=Locklear |first1=James H. |title=Phlox: A Natural History and Gardener's Guide |date=9 March 2011 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=9780881929348 |page=223 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L9KgyxXBmCQC |access-date=2 August 2021}} Plants branch into numerous slender stems that are densely covered with imbricated leaves. The leaves are light to greyish green, leathery and hairy, ovate-oblong and grow in dense rosettes. Leaves become brownnish to black when withered and remain on the branch to form a hardened protective structure. The branches have fine hairs that collect moisture from cracks in the rock.

The solitary terminal flowers{{cite web |title=One-flower Kelseya - Kelseya uniflora |url=http://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PDROS0Y010 |website=Montana Field Guide |publisher=Montana Natural Heritage Program. |access-date=5 August 2021}} are produced very early in spring and are reddish-purple to pinkish white.{{cite journal |last1=Ahlenslager |first1=Kathy |title=Kelseya uniflora |journal=Kelseya |date=Winter 2007 |url=https://www.mtnativeplants.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/KR-Kelseya-uniflora-and-Kelsey-Ahlenslager-and-Lesica.pdf |access-date=2 August 2021}}{{cite web |title=Kelseya uniflora |url=http://www.mountainflora.ca/Rocky_Mountains_Alpine_Flowers/Kelseya_uniflora.html |website=Mountain Flora Hikes |access-date=4 August 2021}} The flowers typically open as the snow melts back.{{cite journal |last1=McCracken |first1=Clayton |title=Is the Kelseya dying? |journal=Kelseya |date=Summer 2006 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=3–4 |url=https://www.mtnativeplants.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Kelseya-v-19-4.pdf}} The 5 sepals are only 2 mm long with the 5 petals elliptic to oblong and advertising a shade of pink. The 7 to 12 stamens are slightly longer than the petals.{{cite web |last1=Lis |first1=Richard |title=Kelseya Rydberg in N. L. Britton et al. |url=http://dev.floranorthamerica.org/Kelseya |website=Flora of North America |access-date=5 August 2021}}

From very early on it was clear that these plants formed an outlier group within Rosaceae and together with Petrophytum and Eriogynia (now Luetkea) they were treated as sections within the genus Eriogynia.{{cite book |title=Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume 25 |date=1890 |publisher=Metcalf and Company |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwADAAAAIAAJ |access-date=2 August 2021}} After a number of revisions and molecular analysis they are now member of tribe Spiraeeae.{{cite journal |last1=Potter |first1=Dan |last2=Still |first2=Shannon |title=Phylogenetic position of Kelseya based on molecular data |journal=Kelseya |date=Winter 2007 |url=https://www.mtnativeplants.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/KR-Phylogenetic-Position-of-Kelseya-Potter-and-Still.pdf |access-date=2 August 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=Dan |first1=Potter |title=Phylogeny and classification of Rosaceae |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |date=2007 |volume=266 |issue=1–2 |pages=5–43 |doi=10.1007/s00606-007-0539-9|bibcode=2007PSyEv.266....5P |s2cid=16578516 }}

The reduction in plant stature and its xeric alpine habitat make it a popular but challenging subject for alpine garden enthusiasts.{{cite book |last1=R. Kruckeberg |first1=Arthur |last2=Chalker-Scott |first2=Linda |title=Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest |date=12 March 2019 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=9780295744865 |page=273 |edition=3 |access-date=2 August 2021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aLKMDwAAQBAJ |ol=3781797M}}

Kelseya uniflora is reported to have a global NatureServe conservation status of "Secure". Its global status, however dates from 1987 and needs review.{{cite web |title=Kelseya uniflora |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.158783/Kelseya_uniflora |website=NatureServe |access-date=4 August 2021}}

In the three states where it occurs its status is:

• Idaho: SNR (No Status Rank)
• Montana: S4 (Apparently Secure)
• Wyoming: S2 (Imperiled)

In 2006, naturalists from Montana and Wyoming were asked to report their findings on an apparent die-back occurring in local populations of this species. The author also mentioned the same happening with Petrophyton caespitosum, a species that inhabits a similar ecological niche.

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Category:Rosaceae

Category:Monotypic Rosaceae genera