Echinacea simulata McGregor

Echinacea simulata McGregor View in CoL [ Asteraceae ]

Echinacea simulata is reported as new to Indiana based on a collection made in 2020 (Harrison County) by Scott Namestnik and Roger Hedge. This species was abundant in a southwest-facing glade-like limestone barrens ( Fig. 24 View FIG ). Prior to this collection, plants at this location had been referred to as E. pallida , but there was suspicion that the plants here may be E. simulata (Michael Homoya, pers. comm.), and upon observation and collection while plants were in flower, the collectors determined that the population was in fact E. simulata .

This coneflower with bright yellow pollen and white to rose ray flowers over 4 mm wide is naturally occurring in the Interior Low Plateau and Ozarks, is considered a waif in Virginia and North Carolina, and is also reported in southern Florida (Weakley & Southeastern Flora Team 2022a); it also may be introduced further north in Illinois ( Kartesz 2015; Urbatsch et al. 2006). Echinacea simulata is considered globally apparently secure (G4) and apparently secure in the United States (N4); its subnational conservation status ranks range from critically imperiled (S1) in Arkansas to imperiled (S2) in Georgia and Tennessee to vulnerable (S3S4) in Kentucky; the subnational conservation status rank is unknown (SU) in Indiana, in Illinois it is not a conservation priority (SNA), and the status has not been determined in the other states in which it is known to occur ( NatureServe 2023). In Indiana, this species is currently tracked as state endangered on the list of Endangered, Threatened, and Extirpated Plants of Indiana (IDNR 2022). The collection documented here is thought to represent the only currently extant population of E. simulata in the state.

Voucher Specimens: INDIANA. Harrison Co.: Teeple Glade,in limestone barrens,pollen bright yellow,associated species: Allium cernuum , Andropogon gerardii , Asclepias verticillata , Asclepias viridiflora , Carex pensylvanica , Diospyros virginiana , Fraxinus quadrangulata , Helianthus hirsutus , Hypericum dolabriforme , Isanthus brachiatus , Lithospermum canescens , Manfreda virginica , Quercus muehlenbergii , Quercus stellata , Ratibida pinnata , Rhus aromatica , Rosa carolina , Ruellia humilis , Schizachyrium scoparium , Sorghastrum nutans , Symphyotrichum patens , 38.02554, –85.95626, 22 Jun 2020, S.Namestnik & R.Hedge 4392 (IND).