BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Plagiobothrys tenellus
slender popcornflower
| Scientific Name: | Plagiobothrys tenellus (Nutt. ex Hook.) Gray | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | slender popcornflower | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vascular Plant | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | PLAGTEN | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Mar 2025) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S1? (Apr 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Red | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | Threatened (Nov 2008) | ||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | 1 - Threatened (Feb 2011) | ||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 1 - At Risk (2010) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Technical Description: | |||||||||||
| Similar Species: | |||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Facultative - occasional use
Forest / Garry Oak Woodland / Facultative - frequent use Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Garry Oak Coastal Bluffs / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Plagiobothrys tenellus grows in dry, open slopes in grasslands, scrub, sagebrush, woodlands, conifer forests (Wildflower Center 2025). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Habitat Comments: | Across its North American range, Plagiobothrys tenellus is found on dry slopes in grassland, scrub, woodland, or forest. British Columbia populations are found in, or near, Garry oak and associated ecosystems in the dry Coastal Douglas-fir zone of southeastern Vancouver Island and adjacent Gulf Islands. Here it is found on dry, grassy slopes and coastal bluffs. Sites are generally steep, south- or southwest-facing, open and often with exposed gravelly soils or rocks (COSEWIC 2008). Associated species include Cerastium arvense, Lotus micranthus, Poa secunda, Stipa lemmonii, Trifolium microcephalum, T. oliganthum, T. microdon, Thysanocarpus curvipes, Aphanes occidentalis, and Vulpia microstachys. Associated non-native species inlclude Aira caryophyllea, A. praecox, Athysanus pusillus, Bromus sterilis, B. rigidus, Silene gallica, Torilis japonica, Veronica arvensis, Cynosurus echinatus, Vulpia bromoides, Erodium cicutarium, and Hypochaeris radicata. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Elevation (m) (min / max): | Provincial: | ||||||||||
| Known Pests: | |||||||||||
| Pollen Vector: | |||||||||||
| Pollinator: | |||||||||||
| Dispersal: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Inventory | |||||||||||
| Inventory Priority: | |||||||||||
| Ownership of occurrences (Known locations): | |||||||||||
| Inventory Need: | |||||||||||
| Economic Attributes | |||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Plagiobothrys tenellus is native to the western United States from Washington to southern California and Arizona, southern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Baja California, Mexico (Wildflower center 2025, RARECAT 2024). Range extent was estimated using herbarium specimens and photo-based observations documented between 1994 and 2025 (RARECAT 2024, GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, SEINet 2025). | ||||||||||
| Disjunct, more common elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Peripheral, major distribution elsewhere: | |||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Johnson, J. (2025) | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Mar 26, 2025 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| Last Literature Search: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
COSEWIC. 2008b. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the fragrant popcornflower Plagiobothrys figuratus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 23 pp.(www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). |
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Douglas, G.W., D. Meidinger, and J. Penny. 2002. Rare Native Vascular Plants of British Columbia, 2nd ed. B.C. Conserv. Data Centre, Terrestrial Inf. Branch, Victoria. 358pp. |
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Douglas, G.W., G.D. Straley, D. Meidinger, and J. Pojar, eds. 1998. Illustrated Flora of British Columbia, Vol. 2, Dicotyledons (Balsaminaceae through Cucurbitaceae). B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, and B.C. Minist. For. Res. Program. 401pp. |
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USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 2003. Recovery plan for the roughpopcornflower (Plagiobothrys hirtus). Portland, OR. 60 pp. |
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Wildflower Center. 2025. Native Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Austin Texas. Online. Available: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/ (accessed 2025). |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2025. Species Summary: Plagiobothrys tenellus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 7, 2026).