PORTLAND, Ore.— The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to protect the Columbia yellowcress under the Endangered Species Act. Columbia yellowcress are rare flowers in the mustard family which survive in only a few dozen locations across Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

“These tough little plants have survived since mammoths roamed the Pacific Northwest, but habitat destruction by people has pushed them to the edge of extinction,” said Jeremiah Scanlan, a legal fellow at the Center. “Without Endangered Species Act protections these vibrant yellow flowers could slip away forever.”

Columbia yellowcress grow on riverbanks, lakeshores and other wetland areas. The flower’s distribution evolved in response to flooding cycles related to Ice Age lakes that once covered the Pacific Northwest. The plants grow low to the ground and produce clusters of small, yellow flowers in the late spring and summer. Their life cycle matches the natural water cycles of their habitats, growing as waters recede in the spring and dying back as water becomes less available in the fall and winter.

Damming along the Columbia River has already caused many local populations of Columbia yellowcress to disappear, and many that remain have fewer than 50 individual plants. Cattle are also a serious threat, trampling on plants and destroying delicate lakeshores and stream systems. Off-highway vehicles and other human traffic also destroy Columbia yellowcress.