Dwarf sandwort (Minuartia pusilla) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 1

Assessment Summary – May 2004

Common name : Dwarf sandwort

Scientific name : Minuartia pusilla

Status : Endangered

Reason for designation : An annual ephemeral herb present at a single very small vernal seepage site along a rocky maritime headland in southern Vancouver Island highly disjunct from the nearest populations in southern Washington State. The maximum population size documented totals 20 plants with numbers likely fluctuating depending on precipitation patterns. Risks to the plants arise from the susceptibility of the single small population to stochastic events and on-going disturbance of the habitat by gulls, trampling by boaters and potentially from encroaching invasive plants.

Occurrence : British Columbia

Status history : Designated Endangered in May 2004. Assessment based on a new status report.