Authors: Tyler R Shaver, Lainey S Smith, Michael T Stevens
Mentors: Michael T Stevens
Insitution: Utah Valley University
Clay phacelia (Phacelia argillacea) was placed on the endangered plant list in 1978; at that time there were less than a dozen specimens alive at a single location on private land. This year, that same location, a steep hillside in Spanish Fork Canyon, had over 300 individuals. For the past four years, at suitable sites on public land nearby, we have been planting clay phacelia seeds and monitoring seedlings to understand the factors that will lead to successful establishment of this plant on public land. Following the planting of 32,400 seeds in 2020 and 13,500 in 2021, germinants that emerged were monitored and counted in the spring, summer, and fall each year between 2021 and 2023. In 2021, ten seedlings emerged, and of those six survived to produce seed. In 2022, 110 seedlings emerged, and of those 3 survived to produce seed. In 2023, 30 seedlings emerged, and of those four have survived as of the last monitoring trip. It is interesting to note that although emergence across the three years varied by as much as 11-fold, the number of plants that survived to reproduce was uniform and consistently low. The majority of seedlings that survived to produce seeds emerged in the late summer and fall. It is likely that monsoonal rains that occur in the late summer and fall make clay phacelia seed production more probable.