Clematis socialis Kral

Alabama Leather Flower; Kral's Leather Flower

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Alabama Leather Flower is a native herbaceous perennial in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is restricted to a small area in northeast Alabama and adjacent northwest Georgia. Currently there are five known populations—4 in Alabama and 1 in Georgia. Alabama Leather Flower grows on roadsides, in wet prairie-like settings, and in grassy openings in flatwoods and along small streams. It is found on basic wet to moist clayey soils. Alabama Leather Flower is an upright perennial from branching rhizomes. The stems are up to 2 feet in height, and occur in large colonial patches. The stems are glabrous or slightly pubescent. The lowermost leaves are opposite, sessile or very short petiolate, and lanceolate in outline. Upper leaves are petiolate, 1 pinnate with 3-5 leaflets. The leaflets are linear to lanceolate in outline and glabrous or sparsely pubescent along the veins. The leaves are relatively thin in texture and not reticulate or glaucous. Flowers are solitary in a terminal inflorescence. The peduncle lacks bracts. Petals are absent and the sepals form an urn-shape flower. The sepals are thin in texture, pubescent, crispate, and uniformly blue-violet in color. The tips of the sepals are reflexed or spreading The fruit is a pubescent achene with a long beak. This species was first collected in 1980 by Dr. Robert Kral of Vanderbilt University and described as a new species in 1982. Alabama Leather Flower is listed as an S1 species in Alabama (typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state), and globally as a G1 species (critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences), or very few remaining acres, or miles of stream) or especially vulnerable to extinction because of some factor of its biology).--A. Diamond

Listed as <a href="https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=Q2SM">Federally Endangered</a> as of 26 Sep 1986.</a>

Native Endangered-State Endangered-US S1 (State Rank) G1 (Global Rank)

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