Restoring the Rare Sensitive Jointvetch

Flats full of seedlings of sensitive jointvetch
A small yellow pea-type flower. A hand appears in the lower part of the image.
Sensitive jointvetch in bloom. Image courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Our conservation department is growing sensitive jointvetch (Aeschynomene virginica) for restoration at Lake Mattamuskeet, in cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

This wildflower is a Federally Threatened member of the pea family that occurs in fresh and brackish tidal marshes from New Jersey down to North Carolina.  Residential and commercial development, road construction, water pollution, bank erosion, and invasive plants threaten the survival of this species, which has largely disappeared from North Carolina in recent years.

The seedlings we’re growing will be reintroduced to Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge on the North Carolina coast to begin an effort to bring this species back to our state.

Learn more about this rare species on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website.