Alpine bartsia
Bartsia alpina
Family: Orobanchaceae
Fire effect on plant
Fires outside the growing season will cause little damage to this species, but those that occur during active growth may cause top-killing or mortality.
Key traits
This is a tufted perennial hemi-parasitic herb with a short woody subterranean rhizome bearing abundant adventitious roots with sparse root hairs. Aerial shoots die back in the autumn and the overwintering buds of alpine bartsia are extremely tolerant of freezing temperatures in winter (Taylor & Rumsey, 2003).
Propagation in this species seems generally to be by vegetative spread, especially fragmentation of the rhizome, with infrequent recruitment from the soil seedbank (Wigginton & Rothero, 1999).
This species is restricted to two areas in the British Isles, northern England (where it is known only on two sites) and the central Scottish Highlands.
Plant response to fire
The response of alpine bartsia to fire is not described in the literature. In its over-wintering form of below-ground rhizomes, it is likely to be highly tolerant of fire. In the growing season, this species shows some capacity to tolerate grazing although it greatly reduces vigour and reproductive output (Taylor & Rumsey 2003). Therefore, we expect that fires during the growing season will have a similar effect, causing declining vigour and potentially mortality.
Timing of life history
Perennial species. Seeds can be produced from 2-6 years depending upon the site productivity. Flowering June to August.
Conservation status
None.
References
Taylor, K. and Rumsey, F.J. (2003), Bartsia alpina L.. Journal of Ecology, 91: 908-921 [Empirical evidence; Academic literature]
Wigginton, M.J. & Rothero, G.P. (1999) Bartsia alpina L. (Scrophulariaceae). British Red Data Books. 1 Vascular plants, 3rd edn (ed. M.J. Wigginton), pp. 57–58. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough, UK. [Empirical evidence; grey literature]