RARE AND LOCAL TREES IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS 



By Elbert L. Little, Jr. 



INTRODUCTION 



The National Forests contain and preserve 

 trees of many species that are classed as rare 

 or local in distribution within the United States. 

 This report, the third in a series on rare and 

 local trees, cites these species and the National 

 Forests where each is native. Trees on lists of 

 proposed endangered and threatened plant spe- 

 cies are so designated, though none has been so 

 classified officially. 



One purpose is to provide a reference list of 

 rare and local trees for land managers. The aim 

 is to bring the list to the attention of the offi- 

 cials in charge of the ranger districts and other 

 areas. The report may help foresters and other 

 land managers, especially those beginning work 

 on the areas in the future, to become aware of 

 these trees and their local distribution. Thus, 

 these species can be considered in management 

 practices, and any needed steps for further pro- 

 tection can be taken. 



Also, in the absence of surveys or local plant 

 lists, this compilation may suggest where other 

 rare trees and range extensions might be ex- 

 pected and sought within the National Forests. 

 Credit is due many colleagues for their helpful 

 review of the manuscript. 



Forty species and several varieties of trees 

 classed here as rare or local are native within 

 the National Forests of continental United 

 States. Fifteen tree species of Mexican moun- 

 tains have their main United States distribution 

 within the Coronado National Forest of south- 

 eastern Arizona and adjacent New Mexico. 

 Also, 90 tropical tree species found within the 

 Caribbean National Forest of Puerto Rico are 

 included because they are confined to that island 

 (endemic) or are rare. 



Lists of proposed endangered and threatened 

 plant species of continental United States con- 

 tain about 40 species and varieties of trees 

 (Little 1975b 1 ). Nine of these species and 6 



1 Names and dates in parentheses refer to Literature 

 Cited, p. 13. 



varieties, classed here also as rare or local, grow 

 wild within at least 16 National Forests in 10 or 

 more States. 



"Rare and Local Conifers of the United 

 States" (Little 1975a), the first report in this 

 series, summarizes the occurrence of 35 rare 

 and local species and names the National For- 

 ests, National Parks, and other preserves where 

 each is found. Fortunately, only 2 of these 

 rare and local species (not in National Forests) 

 and 2 varieties are tentatively proposed as 

 endangered. 



"Rare Tropical Trees of South Florida" (Lit- 

 tle 1976a), the second report, compiles the dis- 

 tribution of 60 species of rare tropical trees of 

 the 3 southernmost counties within parks and 

 other preserves. There are no National Forests 

 in South Florida. 



The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (U.S. 

 Public Law 93-205) stressed the need for an 

 inventory and authorized the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution to prepare within 1 year a list of pro- 

 posed endangered and threatened plant species. 

 The author submitted lists of rare tree species. 

 The preliminary published list (Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, Secretary 1975) contains more than 

 2,000 species and varieties in continental United 

 States. 



The Act also provides that the Secretary of 

 the U.S. Department of the Interior must study 

 the Smithsonian Institution's preliminary lists 

 of species and determine whether or not any 

 species is truly threatened or endangered. At 

 this time, no plant species has officially been so 

 classified by the Secretary. However, a list of 

 proposed endangered status for some 1,700 

 United States vascular plant taxa has been 

 published (U.S. Department of the Interior, 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 1976) . That list adds 

 Hawaii but omits species proposed earlier as 

 threatened. Thus, the proposed threatened and 

 endangered species of that publication are ten- 

 tative or preliminary and will remain so until 



