Nuttallanthus floridanus

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Nuttallanthus floridanus
Nutt flor-Plant.jpg
Photo by John R. Gwaltney, Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Tracheophyta - Vascular plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Nuttallanthus
Species: N. floridanus
Binomial name
Nuttallanthus floridanus
(Chapm.) D.A. Sutton
Nutt flor dist.jpg
Natural range of Nuttallanthus floridanus from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common names: Apalachicola toadflax; Florida toadflax[1]

Taxonomic notes

Synonym: Linaria floridana Chapman.[1]

Varieties: none.[1]

The genus Nuttallanthus was separated from Linaria in 1988 by Sutton due to the floral and seed characteristics. [2]

Description

This species is an annual herb that produces bluish, bilabiate, and spurred flowers that attract a variety of insects.[2]

Distribution

N. floridanus is a narrowly distributed species occurring in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi.[2]

Ecology

Habitat

Habitats include sparsely vegetated white sands along lakes, scrubs, sand dunes, and dry sandhills.[3] It has been observed growing in disturbed areas such as roadsides. Associated species include Krigia virginica and Crocanthemum.[4]

Phenology

This species flowers and fruits in March.[4]

It is an autogamous species and produces both cleistogamous and chasmogamous flowers. The cleistogamous flowers are produced early and late in the life cycle and the chasmogamous flowers are self-pollinated before anthesis and attract insects after anthesis.[2]

Seed dispersal

The seeds are small and lack obvious dispersal mechanisms.[5]

Seed bank and germination

Carrington (1997) found that germination depends on seeds accumulated in a persistent seed bank to maintain populations between disturbances.

Pollination

Pollen is required for fruit and seed development. It is completely cross-incompatible with other Nuttallanthus species due to the amount of genetic divergence between species and isolation.[2] The following Hymenoptera species were observed visiting flowers of Linaria floridana at the Archbold Biological Station:[6]

Sweat bees from the family Halictidae: Lasioglossum nymphalis, Lasioglossum pectoralis, Lasioglossum puteulanum

Leafcutting bees from the family Megachilidae: Anthidiellum notatum rufomaculatum, Megachile brevis pseudobrevis, Megachile georgica, Osmia sandhouse

Thread-waisted wasps from the family Sphecidae: Tachysphex similis

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

Cultural use

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 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.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Phillip, T. C. and W. J. Elisens (2006). "Genetic Variation and Reproductive System among North American Species of Nuttallanthus (Plantaginaceae)." American Journal of Botany 93(4): 582-591.
  3. [[1]]Accessed: January 20, 2016
  4. 4.0 4.1 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: February 2016. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Robert K. Godfrey, R. Kral, and Helen Roth. States and Counties: Florida: Franklin, Gadsden, Leon, Marion, and Wakulla.
  5. Carrington, M. E. (1997). "Soil Seed Bank Structure and Composition in Florida Sand Pine Scrub." American Midland Naturalist 137(1): 39-47.
  6. Deyrup, M.A. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowering plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.