Rosy owl-clover (Orthocarpus bracteosus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 10

Existing Protection or Other Status Designations

Orthocarpus bracteosus is not covered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Endangered Species Act (USA) or the IUCN Red Data Book. Natureserve has designated a G3? rank for the species. The G3 rank indicates that the species is classified as "rare or uncommon (typically 21-100 occurrences); may be susceptible to large-scale disturbances; e.g., may have lost extensive peripheral populations”. The ‘?’ indicates that limited information is available or the number of extant occurrences is estimated.

Orthocarpus bracteosus is currently on the B.C. Conservation Data Centre Red List, which includes any indigenous species or subspecies (taxa) considered to be Extirpated, Endangered, or Threatened in British Columbia.

In both British Columbia and Washington, Orthocarpus bracteosus is ranked as S1, "critically imperiled, because of extreme rarity or because of some factor(s) making it especially vulnerable to extinction.” In California and Oregon the species is ranked SR. This designation is supposed to indicate that the species is “reported for the state, but without persuasive evidence for either accepting or rejecting the report”. In fact, Hickman (1993) and Peck (1941) report the species for California and Oregon respectively and neither claims it is rare. The proper ranking for California and Oregon is probably SU (essentially unranked).

Federal endangered species legislation has been passed in Canada. The Trial Island population may be eligible for protection if the species is officially listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern.

British Columbia does not protect endangered species through legislation. The Trial Island population has nominal protection through provincial legislation governing ecological reserves but Ecological Reserves employees rarely visit the site and are not familiar with the species.

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