Loading profile. Please wait . . .
Marshallia mohrii Beadle & F.E. Boynt.
Coosa Barbara's-buttons
Federal Protection: Listed Threatened
State Protection: Threatened
Global Rank: G3
State Rank: S2
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: Highest Conservation Concern
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 4
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Wet prairies over dolomite
Perennial herb with 1 to several erect stems 1 - 2.3 feet (70 cm) tall, often branching near the top of the plant. Leaves are 3 - 8 inches (8 - 20 cm) long and 0.8 inch (2 cm) wide, decreasing in size and number upward on the stem, alternate on the stem but mostly in a basal rosette, lance- or elongate-spoon-shaped, usually widest at or below the middle, with 3 conspicuous veins and a pointed tip. Flower heads are 1 - 10 per plant, held at the tips of branches, each head about 1 inch across, with a whorl of pointed, green involucral bracts surrounding the underside of the head. The heads have many pale pink or white disk flowers, each with 5 curling lobes that give a fully open head a frilly look; there are no ray flowers. Fruits are about 0.2 inch (4 mm) long, dry and seed-like, oblong, ribbed, hidden among the sharp-pointed bracts (chaff) of the flower head.
Spoon-leaved Barbara’s Buttons (Marshallia obovata) usually occurs in colonies, sometimes with Mohr’s Barbara’s Buttons. It is a single-stemmed plant with one flower head per stem, blooming April–early May, usually before Mohr’s Barbara’s Buttons. The stem leaves are the same size and shape as the basal leaves. The involucral bracts surrounding the underside of the flower head have bluntly rounded tips. Its leaves are widest above the middle.
Broadleaf Barbara’s Buttons (Marshallia trinervia, Special Concern) occurs on sand bars, natural levees, and shady, streamside woods in west Georgia. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18378
Pineland Barbara’s Buttons (Marshallia ramosa, Rare) occurs in the Fall Line region in open forests over ultramafic rock and in the Coastal Plain on Altamaha Grit outcrops. For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=19910
Shale outcrops along streams and in small, prairie openings in the Coosa Valley; clearings, such as roadsides and utility rights-of-way, through these habitats.
Mohr’s Barbara’s Buttons is a perennial herb. Its flowers are pollinated by beetles, butterflies, and other small insects, and must be cross-pollinated in order to set viable fruit. As a means of avoiding self-pollination, flowers on a given plant produce pollen before that plant’s stigmas become receptive. Its seeds are probably dispersed by birds and other small animals.
Surveys are best conducted during flowering (mid-May–June).
One county in northwest Georgia and several counties in northeast and central Alabama. It is rare throughout its range.
Fire suppression, encroachment and competition from woody plants, herbicide applications in utility rights-of-way, conversion of habitat to pine plantations.
| Threat 1 | Threat 2 | Threat 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Threat | Natural system modifications | Other options | Energy production & mining |
| Specific Threat | None | None | None |
Marshallia mohrii is ranked S2 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is imperiled in Georgia. It is listed as Threatened by the State of Georgia and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Thirty populations have been documented in Georgia, all on private land; most are protected by a conservation easement.
Conduct frequent prescribed fires to control woody competition. Protect plants in powerline and road rights-of-way from herbicides and vehicle traffic. Avoid mechanical clearing and bedding.
Chafin, L.G. 2007. Field guide to the rare plants of Georgia. State Botanical Garden of Georgia and University of Georgia Press, Athens.
Channell, R.B. 1957. A revisional study of the genus Marshallia (Compositae). Contributions of the Gray Herbarium 181:41-132. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41764637?seq=1
Cronquist, A. 1980. Vascular flora of the southeastern United States, Vol. 1, Asteraceae. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
Dell, N.D., Q.G. Long, and M.A. Albrecht. 2019. Germination traits in the threatened southeastern grassland endemic, Marshallia mohrii (Asteraceae). Castanea 84(2): 212-223.
GADNR. 2020. Element occurrence records for Marshallia mohrii. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, Social Circle, Georgia.
Kral, R. 1983. A report on some rare, threatened, or endangered forest-related vascular plants of the South. Technical Publication R8-TP2. United States Forest Service, Atlanta.
NatureServe. 2019. Marshallia mohrii comprehensive report. NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Marshallia+mohrii
Patrick, T.S., J.R. Allison, and G.A. Krakow. 1995. Protected plants of Georgia. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, Social Circle.
USFWS. 2019. Mohr’s Barbara’s buttons (Marshallia mohrii) species account and related documents. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Jackson, Mississippi. https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?sId=7610
Watson, L.E. 2006. Flora of North America. Vol. 21, Magnoliophyta: Asteridae, Part 8: Asteraceae, Part 3. Oxford University Press, New York. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250067164
Watson, L.E. and J.R. Estes. 1990. A biosystematic and phenetic analysis of morphological variation in Marshallia (Asteraceae). Systematic Botany 15: 403-414. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2419354?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Watson, L.E., W.J. Elisens, and J.R. Estes. 1991. Electrophoretic and cytogenetic evidence for allopolyploid origin of Marshallia mohrii (Asteraceae). American Journal of Botany 78(3): 408-416. https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1991.tb15203.x
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Linda G. Chafin
L. Chafin, Jun. 2008: original account
K. Owers, Feb. 2010: added pictures
L. Chafin, Mar. 2020: updated original account.
