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Warea sessilifolia Nash
Sessile-leaf Warea
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G2G4
State Rank: S1
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: High Conservation Concern
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 3
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Sandhills scrub
Annual herb with a tap root. The stem is 6 - 32 inches (15 - 80 cm) tall, green to reddish in color, smooth, sometimes waxy-white, branched above the middle. Leaves are 0.3 - 1.5 inches (0.8 - 4 cm) long and less than an inch (0.3 - 3 cm) wide, alternate, held vertically, hairless, oval to lance-shaped, without stalks, rounded at the base, with entire margins. The flowers are dark pink, 0.5 - 1 inch wide, with 4 petals and 4 long, exserted stamens. Fruits are narrow, curved pods 1 - 1.7 inch (2.5 - 4.5 cm) long with many seeds.
Pineland Cress (Warea cuneifolia) occurs in similar habitats in Georgia’s Coastal Plain. Its leaves are wedge-shaped at the base and its flowers are pale pink to white. It begins flowering in July.
Warea sessilifolia inflorescences resemble those of two plants in the Cleome family: Spider Flower (Cleome hasslerana) and Clammy-weed (Polanisia tenuifolia). Spider-flower, native to South America, is widely used in gardens and landscaping – it grows to about 5 feet tall and has spirally arranged, palmately compound leaves. Clammy-weed, native to sandhills in the southeastern Coastal Plain, is covered with sticky hairs, its leaves are palmately compound with 3 very narrow leaflets, and its flowers have 8 - 27 stamens.
Warea sessilifolia is in the Mustard Family; nine other species in this family are rare in Georgia:
Lyre-leaf Rockcress (Arabidopsis lyrata) For more information, see: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=241000801
Georgia Rock-cress (Arabis georgiana) For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18522
Lake-cress (Armoracia lacustris, synonym Rorippa aquatica) For more information, see: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250094612
Missouri Rock-cress (Boechera missouriensis) For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=17367
Mountain Bitter-cress (Cardamine clematitis) For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=21643
Sun-loving Draba (Draba aprica) For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=18973
Wedge-leaf Whitlow-grass (Draba cuneifolia) For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=32149
Least Glade-cress (Leavenworthia exigua var. exigua) For more information, see: https://www.georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=16207
Glade-cress (Leavenworthia uniflora) For more information, see: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242416727
Sandhill Cress occurs in dry, sandy soils of sandhills, sandy pinewoods, scrub oak stands, and Turkey Oak hills.
Sandhill Cress is an annual, its seeds germinating in early spring and forming small leaf rosettes. The stem emerges from the center of the rosette in early summer and reaches maturity in August. It flowers August through September and is pollinated by bees and butterflies. Seed pods are long and narrow and twist rapidly when they dry, splitting along both sides and catapulting the many tiny seeds away from the parent plant. Sandhill Cress requires bare mineral soil for seed germination.
Sandhill Cress is most conspicuous when in flower, August–September, but may be identified later in the season by its sessile, erect leaves and clusters of narrow, twisted, down-curved seed pods that persist for some time on the plants after the seeds are dispersed.
Georgia, Alabama, Florida; it is rare throughout its range.
Fire suppression, use of herbicides in utility rights-of-way, conversion of habitat to pastures, fields, or pine plantations.
| Threat 1 | Threat 2 | Threat 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Threat | Agriculture & aquaculture | Natural system modifications | Transportation & service corridors |
| Specific Threat | None | None | None |
Warea sessilifolia is ranked S1 by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, indicating that it is critically imperiled throughout the state. Only two populations have been discovered in Georgia, both on private lands.
Apply prescribed fire to sandhill and scrub habitats. Conduct surveys for this species in southwest Georgia sandhills. Introduce species into safeguarded habitats.
GADNR. 2019. Element occurrence records for Warea sessilifolia. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. Social Circle, Georgia.
Huegel, C.N. 2012. Sessile-leaf Pineland Cress - Warea sessilifolia. Native Florida Wildflowers. http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/2012/09/sessileleaf-pinelandcress-warea.html.
Al-Shehbaz, I.A. 2002. Species account for Warea sessilifolia. Flora of North America North of Mexico, vol. 26. http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Warea_sessilifolia
NatureServe. 2019. Species account for Warea sessilifolia. NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.140880/Warea_sessilifolia
Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-Atlantic States. University of North Carolina Herbarium, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
Linda G. Chafin
Linda G. Chafin, 25 June 2019: original account
