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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
ABBREVIATION :
DESPIN
SYNONYMS :
Sophia pinnata (L.) Britt.
SCS PLANT CODE :
DEPI
COMMON NAMES :
pinnate tansymustard
western tansymustard
tansy leafed mustard
TAXONOMY :
The fully documented scientific species name of pinnate tansymustard is
Descurainia pinnata (Walt.) Britt. Pinnate tansymustard occupies a wide
geographical range and exhibits considerable morphological variation.
Recognized varieties are as follows:
Descurainia pinnata var. brachycarpa (Richards.) Fern.
Descurainia pinnata var. filipes (Gray) Peck.
Descurainia pinnata var. glabra (Wooton & Standl.) Detl.
Descurainia pinnata var. halictorum (Cockerell) Peck.
Descurainia pinnata var. intermedia (Rydb.) Peck.
Descurainia pinnata var. nelsonii (Rydb.) Peck.
Descurainia pinnata var. osmiarum (Cockerell) Shinners
Descurainia pinnata var. pinnata
Descurainia pinnata var. paysonii Detl.
Descurainia pinnata var. paradisa (Nels. & Kenn.) Peck.
LIFE FORM :
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
D. Tirmenstein, December 1986
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
D. Tirmenstein, January 1988
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Tirmenstein, Debra A. 1986. Descurainia pinnata. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Pinnate tansymustard is a common weed that grows across most of the
United States and southern Canada. It occurs from British Columbia (60
degrees latitude) southward into Mexico (20 degrees latitude) [9,18].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES40 Desert grasslands
STATES :
AL AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA ID
IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI
MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY
NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN
TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY AB BC
LB MB NB NF NT NS ON PE PQ SK
YT
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
ARCH BADL BIBE BICA BLCA BUFF
CARE CACA CHIR COLM CORO CODA
CRMO DINO FOBO FOBU GLCA GRCA
GRTE GRSA GUMO JODA JOTR LAME
LAMR MOCA MEVE NABR ORPI SAGU
SAMO THRO WACA WHSA WICA WUPA
YELL ZION
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
1 Northern Pacific Border
2 Cascade Mountains
3 Southern Pacific Border
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K040 Saltbush - greasewood
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K054 Grama - tobosa prairie
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K057 Galleta - threeawn shrubsteppe
K063 Foothills prairie
SAF COVER TYPES :
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
210 Interior Douglas-fir
211 White fir
216 Blue spruce
217 Aspen
237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon - juniper
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Pinnate tansymustard is an early seral species in a variety of pinyon-juniper,
sagebrush-grass, and conifer habitat types and plant associations.
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Pinnate tansymustard provides forage for livestock and wildlife species
before the plant matures [18]. It is generally considered to be fair
forage for sheep and goats but poor forage for cattle [20]. Pinnate
tansymustard is an important forage species on some overgrazed ranges
primarily because of its abundance [20]. It is poisonous to cattle if
consumed in large quantities and can cause "paralyzed tongue," which
prevents the animal from eating or drinking [18]. Other symptoms
include partial or complete blindness, and aimless wandering [20].
Pinnate tansymustard provides minimal food value for livestock and big
game species. The seeds may be used by many birds and small mammals.
PALATABILITY :
Overall palatability of pinnate tansymustard is low and decreases as the
plant matures [18]. In most areas, it is considered to be fair in
palatability for sheep and goats and poor for cattle [20]. Pinnate
tansymustard is lightly used by bighorn sheep during the early spring
[21]. The seeds of this species are probably fairly palatable to many
smaller birds and mammals. The palatability and degree of use by
livestock and wildlife species for pinnate tansymustard (Descurainia
pinnata var. intermedia) in two western states is as follows [3]:
UT WY
Cattle Fair Good
Sheep Good Good
Horses Poor Good
Pronghorn Fair ----
Elk Fair ----
Mule deer Fair ----
Small mammals Fair ----
Small nongame birds Fair ----
Upland game birds Fair ----
Waterfowl Poor ----
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Pinnate tansymustard (var. intermedia) is rated as poor in energy and
protein value [3]. Mineral content of plants from a Washington site was
as follows [2]:
Macronutrients (% dry weight) Micronutrients (% dry weight)
N P Ca Mg Na S Fe Mn B Cu Zn
1.34 0.29 1.16 0.26 0.04 0.31 0.03 0.002 0.003 0.0005 0.002
The overall food value of pinnate tansymustard from selected Great
Basin populations is given below [17]:
Cal./kg % Protein % Carbohydrate % Fat % Ash % Moisture
3,660 27.2 63.3 0.50 2.9 6.1
COVER VALUE :
Pinnate tansymustard provides some cover for small birds and mammals.
The degree to which pinnate tansymustard provides environmental
protection during one or more seasons for wildlife species in Utah has
been rated as follows [3]:
Pronghorn Poor
Elk Poor
Mule deer Poor
Small mammals Fair
Small nongame birds Fair
Waterfowl Poor
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Pinnate tansymustard is rated low to moderate for erosion control and
short-term revegetation [3].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Native American made pinole flour from the seed pods of pinnate
tansymustard, and used the young shoots as an herb [18].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Pinnate tansymustard is a native, annual, cool-season forb [18]. It
grows from 4.2 to 31.2 inches (10-80 cm). The erect stem is simple or
freely branched [19]. Flowers are borne in racemes up to 11.8 inches
(30 cm). Plants are showy when flowering but become ragged and
inconspicuous as seed matures. Pinnate tansymustard has a deep taproot.
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Therophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Pinnate tansymustard regenerates through an abundance of small seed
[18]. One to twenty biseriate, clavate, or elliptic seeds are produced
per locule [8]. Seed is borne in two rows in each locule [19].
Pinnate tansymustard has been described as a seedbanker in desert
grassland communities of New Mexico [15]. Seed stored in the soil
apparently germinates in greatest numbers either in the zones closest to
or most distant from broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) plants
[15]. Precise reasons for this seedling distribution have not been
determined. The broom snakeweed plants may alter the soil environment
to favor the growth of pinnate tansymustard, or these shrubs may trap
the seeds which then accumulate and germinate near the base [15].
The seed of pinnate tansymustard is mucilaginous when wet, which may
facilitate dispersal by animals or increase adherence to soil particles
[9].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Pinnate tansymustard is a widespread weedy species that grows on a
variety of sites. It occurs in waste places, disturbed areas, plains,
dry hillsides, prairies, open woods, and along streambanks [4,18].
Pinnate tansymustard grows most commonly along ditches, roadsides, or on
other disturbed, open sites where mineral soil has been exposed [20].
In parts of western Utah, it is particularly common in areas which have
been subjected to high levels of rodent disturbance [7].
Although it is most abundant in arid and semiarid regions on dry or
sandy soil, pinnate tansymustard also grows on rich, moist soils in
mountainous areas [20]. It is common on disturbed soils [18,20].
Pinnate tansymustard can grow on a wide variety of soils, ranging from
gravel to dense clay [3]. Optimum soil depth is estimated to be 10 to
20 inches (25.4-50.8 cm) [3].
Elevational ranges for several western states follow [3,20]:
from 3,500 to 11,900 feet (1,068-3,630 m) in CO
less than 5,500 feet (1,371 m) in MT
from 2,000 to 10,600 feet (610-3,233 m) in UT
from 3,800 to 8,700 feet (1,159-2,654 m) in WY
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Obligate Initial Community Species
Pinnate tansymustard quickly invades disturbed areas with exposed
mineral soil and reduced plant cover. It is characteristic of early
seral communities and competes poorly with perennial grasses and forbs
in later seral stages. It is sometimes found, however, in partial shade
under aspen or other trees [20].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
In many areas, pinnate tansymustard is one of the first spring annuals
to appear [18]. Flowering occurs from March through August, depending
on geographic location [19].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Pinnate tansymustard produces an abundance of seed that readily
germinates on exposed mineral soil. This seed is transported to a
burned site by wind, water, or animals. Some seed is also stored
on-site in desert grassland communities of New Mexico and presumably
elsewhere [15].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Pinnate tansymustard is readily killed by fire. Dry vegetation is
consumed to ground level.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Pinnate tansymustard produces seed in abundance and quickly invades a
site after a fire. Numerous seeds may be transported to the site
through the action of wind, water, or animals. This species also stores
seed on-site in the soil [15]; fire can facilitate the germination of
these stored seed reserves.
Pinnate tansymustard grows well on exposed mineral soil [20]. It is an
important early seral species following fire in sagebrush-grassland and
other plant communities [22]. In many areas pinnate tansymustard is a
dominant species during the first 5 postfire years [22]. This species
typically increases after fire, even when cattle grazing occurs [14].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
Pinnate tansymustard typically increases in relative abundance after a
fire. Within a 5-year period during secondary succession in
sagebrush-grassland communities of southern Idaho, plant dominance went
from Russian thistle (Salsola kali) to the mustards (Sisymbrium spp. and
Descurainia spp.) and finally to cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) [22].
Following a fire in a sagebrush-grassland in the Columbia Basin of
Washington, cover of tansymustard either remained unchanged or increased
[14]. The variety filipes is described as an invader following fire in
Washington sagebrush-wheatgrass habitat types [14].
Season of burning may influence the response of pinnate tansymustard. A
fall fire in an Idaho mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp.
vaseyana) habitat type resulted in a dramatic increase in the percent
cover of pinnate tansymustard [13]. Spring burning in the same habitat
type, however, yielded no significant difference between pinnate
tansymustard coverage on burn and control plots [13]. When sites with
sandy soils were burned in eastern Washington, coverage of pinnate
tansymustard appeared to decrease [22].
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Descurainia pinnata | Pinnate Tansymustard
REFERENCES :
1. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
2. Cline, J. F.; Uresk, D. W.; Rickard, W. H. 1977. Plants and soil of a
sagebrush community on the Hanford Reservation. Northwest Science.
51(1): 60-70. [653]
3. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information
network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and
Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
4. Dorn, Robert D. 1984. Vascular plants of Montana. Cheyenne, WY: Mountain
West Publishing. 276 p. [819]
5. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
6. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
7. Goodrich, Sherel. 1986. Vascular plants of the Desert Experimental
Range, Millard County, Utah. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-209. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 72 p. [1033]
8. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1964. Vascular plants of the
Pacific Northwest. Part 2: Salicaceae to Saxifragaceae. Seattle, WA:
University of Washington Press. 597 p. [1166]
9. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific
Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
10. James, L. F.; Keeler, R. F.; Johnson, A. E.; [and others]. 1980. Plants
poisonous to livestock in the western states. Agriculture Information
Bulletin 415. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Science
and Education Administration. 90 p. [1243]
11. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
12. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
13. Mangan, Larry; Autenrieth, R. 1985. Vegetation changes following 2,4-D
application and fire in a mountain big sagebrush habitat type. In:
Sanders, Ken; Durham, Jack, eds. Rangeland fire effects: a symposium:
Proceedings of the symposium; 1984 November 27-29; Boise, ID. Boise, ID:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State
Office: 61-65. [1519]
14. Moomaw, James Curtis. 1956. Some effects of grazing and fire on
vegetation in the Columbia Basin region, Washington. Pullman, WA: State
College of Washington. 87 p. Ph.D. dissertation. [1688]
15. Osman, Abdelgader; Pieper, Rex D.; McDaniel, Kirk C. 1987. Soil seed
banks associated with individual broom snakeweed plants. Journal of
Range Management. 40(5): 441-443. [3955]
16. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
17. Simms, Steven R. 1985. Acquisition cost and nutritional data on Great
Basin resources. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology.
7(1): 117-126. [267]
18. Stubbendieck, J.; Hatch, Stephan L.; Hirsch, Kathie J. 1986. North
American range plants. 3rd ed. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska
Press. 465 p. [2270]
19. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 1971.
Common weeds of the United States. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
463 p. [2378]
20. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1937. Range plant
handbook. Washington, DC. 532 p. [2387]
21. Van Dyke, Walter A.; Sands, Alan; Yoakum, Jim; [and others]. 1983.
Wildlife habitats in managed rangelands--the Great Basin of southeastern
Oregon: bighorn sheep. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-159. Portland, OR: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest and Range
Experiment Station. 37 p. [2417]
22. Wright, Henry A. 1985. Effects of fire on grasses and forbs in
sagebrush-grass communities. In: Sanders, Ken; Durham, Jack. eds.
Rangeland fire effects: Proceedings of the symposium; 1984 November
27-29; Boise, ID. Boise, ID: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management, Idaho State Office: 12-21. [2617]
Index
Related categories for Species: Descurainia pinnata
| Pinnate Tansymustard
|
 |
