The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking an endangered species designation for the prostrate milkweed, a South Texas Native plant that lives along the border. The rare plant is being threatened in part by border security activities, scientists say.
The prostrate milkweed grows close to the Rio Grande in Starr and Zapata counties and is threatened by an invasive species that benefits from development, including land clearing for border security, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service., our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
“Depending on the alignment, construction [of border barriers] would obliterate prostrate milkweed plants” in one area of the plant’s habitat, aProstrate rarely blooms, and for a botanist, finding it in flower or fruit is “like winning the lottery,” said Chris Best of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.All known U.S. populations of prostrate milkweed are found within 8 miles of the Rio Grande, scientific studies show.
In Starr and Zapata counties, 24 communities of prostrate milkweed remain, according to an analysis by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Almost 80% of those communities have very low numbers. Construction that clears land — whether for border security activities, oil and gas wells, wind turbines, or county roads — destabilizes and destroys the soil that the prostrate milkweed needs to thrive, while giving an advantage to its aggressive buffelgrass competitor. Buffelgrass was intentionally introduced to South Texas from Africa by the federal and state government in the 1950s to help ranchers stabilize overgrazed and parched soil.
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