This has been called one of the rarest plants in the world, and it only grows in a very small region.

For the Love of Plants

I've talked in the past about how much I enjoy working in my little landscape garden, but recently I've become a bit of a houseplant hobbyist.  I started with your most popular houseplants, a monstera and a pothos, but my collection has quickly grown to several plants, and half of them I can't even pronounce the name of, but they're pretty! In my journey of growing my houseplant collection (mostly because they bring me joy, and it's become a fun hobby), I have started to learn about rare plants, and how some folks actively work to collect only the rarer plants.

Mine are all more common houseplants, but they still make me happy! Below is a photo of part of my little houseplant collection.

This sent me down a rabbit hole of learning about rare plants, and rare color variations of common plants. It's a fascinating rabbit hole to go down sometime if you're ever bored.  However, it got me thinking about where rare plants grow, and made me wonder if our area has any plants that are considered rare.  The answer was quite surprising.

One of the Rarest Plants in the World Only Grows in Indiana and Kentucky

The Short's goldenrod is considered one of the rarest plants in the world, because it doesn't occur naturally anywhere in the world, except in some areas of Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky.

The Nature Conservancy describes the Short's goldenrod as:

a rare perennial plant known for its bright yellow flowers. The plant stands up to two feet tall with narrow leaves alternately arranged on the stalk. The longer leaves (up to four inches long) are found near the middle of the stem. Look for them in the middle of August to early November when the flowers are in bloom.

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When you look at photos of the Short's goldenrod, you may think, "Wait, this is rare?  I see these everywhere!"  But it's likely what you've seen isn't a Short's goldenrod, but another species of goldenrod (like in the photo below with the butterfly).  There are about 75 species of goldenrod that are native to the United States, and they're known for their striking yellow flowers.

The Short's Goldenrod Was Once Thought to Be Extinct

The Short's goldenrod is named after Dr. Charles Short, who discovered it in 1840.  According to the Center for Plant Conservation, Dr. Short found the plant growing on Rock Island in Kentucky, which is located on the Ohio River between Clarksville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky.

The Center for Plant Conservation says that after construction of a dam in the early 1900s damaged this plant population, it was believed the Short's goldenrod was extinct, but in 1939, another population was discovered in Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky, by E. Lucy Braun, an ecologist.  This would remain as the only known population of Short's goldenrod until 2002, when ecologists with Indiana Department of Natural Resources would discover a new population of this species in Indiana.

So the next time you see a goldenrod, take a close look, maybe you'll just be in the presence of one of the most rare flowers in the world, and that's pretty dang neat!