Branched phacelia (Phacelia ramosissima) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 7

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Population Sizes and Trends

Phacelia ramosissima has likely always been rare in British Columbia, since British Columbia is the northern extent of the species’ range. Its distribution is also limited to a specialized habitat. Since P. ramosissima was first reported in 1986, there have been no monitoring studies on the species; therefore, population trends are unknown.

The total Phacelia ramosissima population in British Columbia consists of three separate populations, all on Mount Kruger in the southern Okanagan Valley (Figure 4, Table 1). Two of the populations occur on the west and north slopes while the remaining population, with eight subpopulations, is found on the east slope (Figure 4). An additional two subpopulations on the east slope have been extirpated. The east slope subpopulations occur over a north-south distance of 3.5 km. The subpopulations range in size from 10 to 280 m² and contain from 6 to 200 plants. The total population’s area of occupancy is between 800 and 1000 m²supporting fewer than 1000 plants. Population trends have not been monitored at any of the sites.