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February 2005 Kelseya uniflora January 2005 Petrophytum caespitosum Archive 2004 Archive 2003 Archive 2002 Archive 2001 Archive 2000 Archive 1999 Archive 1998 Archive 1997

Plant of the Month February 2005 Kelseya uniflora by Iza Goroff Kelseya uniflora is a member of the Rosaceae, and like its close relative, January's Plant of the Month, Petrophytum caespitosum, though not obvious, it is a woody plant. Unlike Petrophytum caespitosum there is no mistaking Kelseya uniflora for a Spirea, since its flowers are solitary, one to a stem. On seeing the plant one is more likely to mistake it for a moss or lichen! Only if one encounters an old plant with its branches showing will one suddenly recognize it as a woody plant. The flowers aren't much help either. They are tiny, about 3 mm across, flowering in late summer in the Big Horns, evidently much earlier elsewhere. The flowers are tightly held, each at what looks like the top of a rosette, actually the end of a tiny branchlet. These are tightly packed with gray, hairy leaves in what appears to be a smooth surface. Kelseya uniflora is a very rare plant, known from only a few high alpine sites in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Few of its sites are easily accessible; perhaps a number are yet to be found. It is an evolutionary relic, perhaps on its way out. In the Big Horns it is found on the vertical limestone rock faces of Medicine Wheel Mountain and Hunt Mountain. One wonders how a seed can find a foothold on what is mostly smooth rock with slight depressions, few of which can hold either soil or water. Occasionally it finds a crevice where it can prosper. On Hunt Mountain the plants had anywhere from a southeast to south to southwest exposure. In cultivation, one's best chance would be with an eastern to northeastern exposure, all with the best possible air movement. Even on a sunny day at the end of July the temperature did not pass 75F (24C). A hole drilled into a large tufa or soft limestone piece, followed by a sharp hammer whack of a long nail into the hole to create microfissures in the rock for its roots, might be a good start. Filling the hole with the tufa or limestone grindings might be its best compost. We are a long way from ensuring the species' survival from global warming by being able to perpetuate it in our gardens.