Eustachys floridana

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Common name: twospike fingergrass [1], Florida fingergrass [2]

Eustachys floridana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida - Moncots
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Eustachys
Species: E. floridana
Binomial name
Eustachys floridana
Chapm.
EUST FLOR DIST.JPG
Natural range of Eustachys floridana from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Taxonomic Notes

Synonyms: Chloris floridana (Chapman) Wood.[3]

Varieties: none.[3]

Description

E. floridana is a perennial graminoid of the Poaceae family native to North America.[1] It generally reaches heights of between 4 and 10 dm tall with slender stems.[4]

Distribution

E. floridana is found in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.[1] Within this range, it is found from eastern Georgia south to central peninsular Florida and west to the western panhandle of Florida and southern Alabama.[2]

Ecology

Habitat

E. floridana proliferates in sandhills and pine flatwoods[2], as well as pine rocklands and marl prairies.[5] Specimens have been collected from open oak woods, open longleaf sandhill, flatwoods, and wiregrass sandhill communities.[6] It is considered an indicator species of the north Florida longleaf woodlands habitat.[7] Thinning the overstory has a negative effect on the abundance of E. floridana but this species was found to persist with clearcutting disturbance.[8]

Associated species include Pinus palustris, Pinus taeda, Aristida sp., Croptilion sp., Liatris sp., Eupatorium sp., and Tridens sp.[6]

Eustachys floridana is an indicator species for the North Florida Longleaf Woodlands community type as described in Carr et al. (2010).[9]

Phenology

E. floridana is a perennial herb to 1 m tall; raceme rachis wingless, triangular, fertile lemma pale or gray. [5]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by wind. [10]

Fire ecology

This species occurs in habitats that are fire-dependent.[7]

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

Cultural use

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 USDA Plant Database https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=EUFL3
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-atlantic states. Working Draft of 21 May 2015. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  4. [[1]] NatureServe Explorer. Accessed: May 13, 2019
  5. 5.0 5.1 Coile, N. C. (2000). Notes on Florida �s Regulated Plant Index (Rule 5B-40), Botany Contribution No. 38, 3nd edition. Gainesville, Florida, Florida Deaprtment of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry.
  6. 6.0 6.1 URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2018. Collectors: R. Kral, Loran C. Anderson, H. Kurz, R.K. Godfrey, J. P. Gillespie, R.E. Perdue, Richard Carter, W.W. Baker. States and counties: Florida (Wakulla, Madison, Leon, Suwannee) Georgia (Thomas, Baker)
  7. 7.0 7.1 Carr, S. C., et al. (2010). "A Vegetation Classification of Fire-Dependent Pinelands of Florida." Castanea 75(2): 153-189.
  8. Brockway, D. G. and C. E. Lewis (2003). "Influence of deer, cattle grazing and timber harvest on plant species diversity in a longleaf pine bluestem ecosystem." Forest Ecology and Management 175: 49-69.
  9. Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
  10. Kirkman, L. Katherine. Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.