Scoparia dulcis

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Scoparia dulcis
Scop dulc.jpg
Photo by John R. Gwaltney, Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Scrophulariales
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Genus: Scoparia
Species: S. dulcis
Binomial name
Scoparia dulcis
L.
Scop dulc dist.jpg
Natural range of Scoparia dulcis from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common names: Licorice weed, Sweet-broom, Goat weed

Taxonomic notes

Description

It is a ruderal species.[1]

"Erect, profusely branched perennial, 3-8 dm tall, the stems pubescent. Especially about the nodes. Leaves glandular-punctate, opposite, ovate-lanceolate to rhombic-ovate, 1-3 cm long, 6-16 mm wide, the distal ½-2/3 serrate. Flowers axillary, usually solitary, pedicel shorter than the petiole of the subtending leaf; calyx 4-parted, 1.5-2 mm long, the lobes widely ovate to elliptic, equaling or much exceeding the tube; corolla 4-parted, white, rotate, regular, the throat lanose, lobes ca. 1 mm long; stamens 4. Capsule subglobose to widely ellipsoid, ca. 2 mm long or broad."[2]

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida, S. dulcis can occur in moist loam around ponds and bordering adjacent woodlands. It has been observed in disturbed sites such as waste areas, powerlines corridors, fallow fields, and the upper edge of a restored marshy area.[1]

Phenology

Seed bank and germination

Found in seed banks of rosemary scrubs, pastures, and degraded scrub sites but not in above ground vegetation in south central Florida.[3]

Herbivory and toxicology

Scoparia dulcis was observed at the Archbold Biological Station to host leafcutting bees such as Megachile albitarsis (family Megachilidae).[4]

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

Cultural use

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: November 2015. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Lisa Keppner, R. Komarek, Annie Schmidt, Cecil R. Slaughter. States and Counties: Florida: Liberty, Jefferson, St. Johns, Taylor, Washington. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.
  2. Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 937. Print.
  3. Navarra, J. J. and P. F. Quintana-Ascencio 2012. Spatial pattern and composition of the Florida scrub seed bank and vegetation along an anthropegenic disturbance gradient. Applied Vegetation Science 15:349-358.
  4. Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.