Features: Only discovered by botanists in Ontario in 1973, the Branched Bartonia (Bartonia paniculata) is a spindly annual that grows to 40 cm tall and has tiny white flowers. It looks spindly because it appears to have no leaves -- they are reduced to tiny scales. For this reason, it has been suggested that the plant may be similar to orchids and obtains at least some nutrients from soil fungi. It grows in peat soils in sphagnum bogs.

Status: Threatened Provincially and Nationally

Range: A species of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Branched Bartonia grows from New England south to Louisiana and Texas. In Canada, it grows in the Muskoka District in south-central Ontario. Range Maps

Threats: Easily overlooked, the species was probably never common in Ontario. The populations here are disjunct from the main range of the species (the nearest population is 600 km away) and are at the northern and western limit for the species. At present there are no immediate threats to the species in Ontario.

Protection: One site is in a Provincial Nature Reserve that is managed by OMNR. Most sites are on private land. The Branched Bartonia is protected under the Endangered Species Act 2007. Threatened species are protected from harmful actions or collecting wild plants.

Text Sources: White 2002; White 1992

Last Modified Date: October 2008