Cape Sable Thoroughwort

Cape Sable thoroughwort flower.

 

 

The Cape Sable thoroughwort is a small herb in the sunflower family with bluish-purple flowers. Its global distribution is restricted to coastal Everglades National Park and a few sites in the Florida Keys. This species is listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services as a federally endangered species in 2013. Its critical habitat was also designated in 2014, much of which is within the Everglades National Park. Segments of Rowdy Bend Trail, Snake Bight Trail, Christian Point Trail, Bear Lake Trail, Coastal Prairie Trail and Bayshore Loop were included within critical habitat.

In the Everglades National Park, this species is found in buttonwood hammocks and coastal hardwood hammocks between Clubhouse Beach and Little Madeira Bay. The population status at the park is stable.

Primary threats to this species include competition from exotic species and sea-level rise. The Cape Sable thoroughwort occurs along edges of Coastal Prairie Trail and in suitable habitat near Rowdy Bend Trail, Bear Lake Trail and Snake Bight Trail.

Any federal actions, like trail clearing, that may result in adverse impacts to federally listed species or adverse modification of their critical habitat require consultation with the USFWS.

Questions can be address by Jimi Sadle, Botanist, Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks

[phone] or [e-mail]