Species of Greatest Conservation Need

**Species of Greatest Conservation Need** (Updated: 06/16/2025)
Scientifc Name	Common Name	Taxonomic Group	SGCN Status	Federal Status	State Status	Global Rank	State Rank	Endemic	General Habitat Type(s)
Eleocharis brachycarpa	short-fruited spikesedge	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	GH	SH	No	In Tamaulipas, at the edges of resacas; in Texas, single specimen collected between Matamoros and Nueces presumably in similar habitat; fruiting winter-spring
Emorya suaveolens	Emory-bush	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3	S1	No	Known from several collections from limestone cliffs in Maravillas Canyon, Brewster County; Perennial; Flowering March-Nov
Encelia scaposa	one-head encelia	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3	S2	No	Occurs on open gravelly clay flats; Perennial; Flowering/Fruiting March-Nov
Ephedra coryi	Cory's ephedra	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3	S3	No	Dune areas and dry grasslands in the southern Plains Country; Perennial; Flowering April-Sept; Fruiting May-Sept
Ephedra torreyana var. powelliorum	Powells' joint-fir	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5?T2	S1	No	Desert scrub on gravelly to fine grained gypseous soils; 850-1100 m (2789-3609 ft)
Epithelantha bokei	Boke's button cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G4T3	S3	No	Chihuahuan Desert on rocky, barren hills of sedimentary substrates; 700 (-1400) m elevation; Perennial; Flowering spring-early summer (May-Jun); Fruiting summer-fall
Ericameria nauseosa var. texensis	Guadalupe Mountains rabbitbrush	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5T2T3	S1	No	Crevices and solution pits in limestone ledges and boulders, less often in open gravel alluvium of streambeds at elevations between 1490 and 2150 m (4900 and 7050 ft); flowering September-November
Eriocaulon koernickianum	small-headed pipewort	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	T 03/30/2020	G2	S1S2	No	In East Texas, post-oak woodlands and xeric sandhill openings on permanently wet acid sands of upland seeps and hillside seepage bogs, usually in patches of bare sand rather than among dense vegetation or on muck; in Gillespie County, on permanently wet or moist hillside seep on decomposing granite gravel and sand among granite outcrops; flowering/fruiting late May-late June
Eriogonum correllii	Correll's wild-buckwheat	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2G3	S2S3	Yes	Occurs on clay mounds, caprock and rocky ledges on calcihe substrates.
Eriogonum greggii	Gregg's wild-buckwheat	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2	S1	No	Sparingly vegetated openings in thorn shrublands in shallow soils on xeric ridges along the Rio Grande; also on excessively drained, sandy soil over caliche and calcareous sandstone of the Goliad Formation and over sandstone or fossiliferous layers of the Jackson Group; flowering February-July, probably opportunistically during the growing season
Eriogonum hemipterum var. hemipterum	Chisos Mountains wild-buckwheat	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3T2	S2	Yes	Wooded slopes and canyons (Powell and Worthington 2018). July - September.
Eriogonum nealleyi	Irion County wild-buckwheat	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2	S2	Yes	Grasslands and shallow stony soils over limestone and indurated caliche, often collected from ungrazed but sparsely vegetated roadsides, particularly where limestone or caliche is exposed on hilltops; flowering June-September
Eriogonum suffruticosum	bushy wild-buckwheat	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2	S2	Yes	Sparsely vegetated rocky limestone slopes, low hills, and clay flats; also on gypseous soils; flowering March-April, in full fruit by May
Eriogonum tenellum var. ramosissimum	basin wild-buckwheat	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5T3	S3	Yes	Usually rooted in crevices of sparsely vegetated, unshaded granite and gneiss outcrops or associated deposits of dry sand and gravel; Perennial; Flowering Apr-Dec
Erythranthe chinatiensis	fringed monkeyflower	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G1	S1	No	<span><span>Perennially wet areas near springs, on wet cliff faces at waterfalls, and in creekbeds, mostly in mountains of the Chihuahuan Desert; flowering (May-) June-August.</span></span>
Escobaria albicolumnaria	white column cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2G3	S2S3	No	Creosote bush or lechuguilla canyon shrublands primarily on nearly level terrain to rolling hills on thin, gravelly soils or limestone bedrock of the Santa Elena, Glen Rose, Boquillas, and Telephone Canyon formations; at lower elevations 550-1370 m (1800-5000 ft) in the Chihuahuan Desert; flowering early March-May
Escobaria dasyacantha var. chaffeyi	Chaffey's cory cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3T1	S1	No	Pine-oak-juniper woodlands on rocky igneous and limestone soils at 1425-2225 m (4675-7300 ft).; flowering March-June; fruiting June-September
Escobaria dasyacantha var. dasyacantha	dense cory cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3T3	S3	No	Lechuguilla-sotol or creosote bush shrublands, grasslands, and oak-juniper woodlands on gravelly, rocky, and/or loamy soils over igneous or limestone substrates at moderate elevations 750-1800 m (2450-5900 ft) in the Chihuahuan Desert; flowering March-May (-July), fruiting (May-) June-August
Escobaria dasyacantha var. duncanii	Duncan's cory cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3T2T3	S1S2	No	Chihuahuan Desert scrub at low to moderate elevations 650-1825 m (2150-6000 ft) on hills, ledges, and benches in cracks and crevices of limestone outcrops; flowering February-March (-May, or July in New Mexico), fruiting mostly May-June
Escobaria guadalupensis	Guadalupe Mountains pincushion cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G1	S1	Yes	On exposed slabs and fractured limestone rock on steep, mostly south-facing slopes in pine-oak-juniper woodlands at (1370-) 1825-2650 m ([4500-] 6000-8700 ft) in the Guadalupe Mountains; flowering April-May; fruiting October-November
Escobaria hesteri	Hester's cory cactus	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2	S2	Yes	Grasslands on novaculite hills or limestone hills and alluvial fans, also in pine-oak-juniper woodlands on igneous substrates; flowering April-early June (-November), also during growing season possibly in response to significant rainfall; fruiting June-August (-January)
Escobaria minima	Nellie's cory cactus	Plants	Yes	E 11/07/1979	E 04/29/1983	G1	S1	Yes	Novaculite outcrops in full sun among Chihuahuan Desert scrub, usually in cracks or chips of novaculite or in mats of Selaginella; flowering March-June, probably most consistently from mid April - mid May; fruiting within one month or less of flowering
Escobaria sneedii var. sneedii	Sneed's pincushion cactus	Plants	Yes	E 11/07/1979	E 04/29/1983	G2G3QT2Q	S2	No	Xeric limestone outcrops on rocky, usually steep slopes in desert mountains, in the Chihuahuan Desert succulent shrublands or grasslands; flowering April-September (peak usually in April, sometimes opportunistically after summer rains; fruiting August - November
Euphorbia astyla	alkali spurge	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G2	S1	No	In Pecos County, locally frequent in nearly bare areas within alkali sacaton (Sporobolus airoides) grasslands on alkaline and/or saline silt loam on alluvial flats along a spring-fed desert stream; in Mexico, on windblown gypsum deposits and gypsum flats, Coahuila locally abundant; flowering and fruiting at least March-June and August-September, probably throughout the growing season depending on rainfall
Euphorbia chaetocalyx var. triligulata	three-tongue spurge	Plants	Yes	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5T1	S1	No	In Texas, in crevices in steep limestone cliffs and on scree and colluvium below; In Coahuila, on basalt and tuff cliffs; flowering/fruiting July-October, perhaps earlier in growing season too.