• <br /> * *DRAFT * * 3 <br /> Habitat <br /> Bradshaw's lomatium is endemic to the central and southern portions of the Willamette <br /> Valley in western Oregon (USFWS 1993), and near LaCamas Lake, Washington. <br /> Occurrence has been documented in three distinct habitat types: (1) shallow, alluvial <br /> soils near the Santiam River; (2) seasonally saturated or flooded prairies along creeks <br /> and streams in the southern Willamette Valley; and (3) wet prairie in the vicinity of <br /> LaCamas Lake, Washington. Most populations are found in seasonal wet prairie habitat <br /> in the southern Willamette Valley, particularly near Eugene. <br /> Bradshaw's lomatium occurs in the wet prairies dominated by tufted - hairgrass <br /> (Deschampsia caespitosa). The Deschampsia community is a tall grass prairie type, <br /> typically found in the low, flat, bottomlands of the Willamette Valley (Franklin and <br /> Dyrness 1973). Less that one percent of these native wet prairies have survived since <br /> Euroamerican settlement (Alverson 1994). These areas usually have standing water from <br /> October to May. The soils are uniformly heavy clay with little rock, sand, or gravel <br /> present (Kagan 1980). <br /> Native vascular plants associated with this habitat type are listed in Appendix 1. Many <br /> introduced plants are also common in the wet prairie habitat. Common introduced <br /> species found at Willow Creek Preserve, a Deschampsia caespitosa grassland in west <br /> Eugene, are also listed in Appendix 1. Other sensitive plant and animal species often <br /> found with Bradshaw's lomatium include: white - topped aster (Aster curtus), Willamette <br /> daisy (Erigeron decumbens var. decumbens), shaggy horkelia ( Horkelia congesta ssp. <br /> congesta), Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii), Fender's blue butterfly <br /> (Icaricia icarioides fenderi), and northwestern pond turtle (Clemmys marmorata <br /> marmorata). <br /> Life History <br /> Bradshaw's lomatium is an herbaceous plant from a perennial taproot. It reproduces by <br /> seed only, without vegetative spread. The peak blooming period is usually the last week <br /> in April through the first week in May. A diverse assemblage of insects, especially <br /> solitary bees and flies, visit the flowers (Kaye 1992, Kaye and Kirkland 1994). The <br /> species does not self - pollinate, but depends on these insects for pollen transfer. <br /> Status <br /> Seventeen distinct populations of Bradshaw's lomatium currently occur in the Willamette <br /> Valley and southwest Washington (Parenti et al. 1993; Gisler 1994; St. Hilare 1994; <br /> Robinson 1995). It is estimated that less than 0.1 percent of the historic populations of <br /> Bradshaw's lomatium remain (Parenti et al. 1993). <br />