Difference between revisions of "Chamaecrista nictitans"

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{{taxobox
 
{{taxobox
 
| name = Chamaecrista nictitans
 
| name = Chamaecrista nictitans
| image = Insert.jpg
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| image = Cham_nict.jpg
| image_caption =  
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| image_caption = Photo by John R. Gwaltney, [http://www.southeasternflora.com/index.asp Southeastern Flora.com]
 
| regnum = Plantae
 
| regnum = Plantae
 
| divisio = Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
 
| divisio = Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants

Revision as of 14:49, 9 November 2015

Chamaecrista nictitans
Cham nict.jpg
Photo by John R. Gwaltney, Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae
Genus: Chamaecrista
Species: C. nictitans
Binomial name
Chamaecrista nictitans
(L.) Moench
CHAM NICT dist.jpg
Natural range of Chamaecrista nictitans from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: sensitive partridge pea

Taxonomic notes

Description

Chamaecrista nictitans is a decumbent herb that forms large mats.

Distribution

Ecology

It is a legume. By mid-season in June and July, a maximum nitrogen-fixing rate was observed.[1]

Habitat

C. nictitans is tolerant of overstory canopies that decrease the light level to about half the ambient (i.e., it can live in partially shaded areas and its nitrogen-fixing capability won't be significantly affected).[1] It is also tolerant of a wide range of dry to wet soil types, having been found in soils as diverse as sandy silt loam, low black sandy peat, shallow soil overlaying limerock, shell sand, red clay, loessial soil, sandy clay loam, dry marl, calcareous and shaly soils, clay, igneous intrusive rocky soils, and novaculite ridges (FSU Herbarium).

C. nictitans occurs in a variety of natural and disturbed communities. It is found in longleaf pine-wiregrass communities,[1] longleaf pine-scrub oak sandy ridges, annually burned savannas, xeric oak-saw palmetto scrub communities, wooded banks of creeks, slash pine flats, borders of brackish and salt marshes, low weedy swales, laurel oak woodlands, upland slopes, dry sandhills, margins of hillside bogs, and loblolly pine forests (FSU Herbarium). C. nictitans is also able to colonize some disturbed areas, including roadsides, railways, clear-cut pine flatwoods, vacant lots, cultivated fields, power line corridors, old fields, and plantations of young slash pine (FSU Herbarium).

Associated species include Chamaecrista fasciculata, Panicum, Andropogon, Strophostyles leiosperma, oaks, saw palmetto, broomsede, laurel oak, and others (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

It has been observed flowering in August through October, and fruiting in August through November (FSU Herbarium).

Seed dispersal

Seed bank and germination

Fire ecology

This species occurs in areas that regularly burn, suggesting a level of fire tolerance (FSU Herbarium).

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Chamaecrista nictitans at Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):

Halictidae: Augochloropsis sumptuosa

Use by animals

A bee, Augochloropsis anonyma (Cockerell) was found on C. nictitans.[2]

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

Deyrup, M.A. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Robert K. Godfrey, R. Komarek, R. F. Doren, Cecil R Slaughter, R. Kral, P. O. Schallert, S. M. Tracy, D. B. Ward, D. Burch, J. K. Small, Chas. A. Mosier, Richard D. Houk, A. H. Curtiss, O. Lakela, J. K. Small, G. K. Small, George R. Cooley, Richard J. Eaton, James D. Ray, Jr., C. Ritchie Bell, Loran C. Anderson, Neal Morar, Delzie Demaree, J. J. Rudloe, C.M. Rogers, J. Beckner, J. Carmichael, James R. Burkhalter, Robert L. Lazor, Sidney McDaniel, John Morrill, P. Gillespie, Richard S. Mitchell, W. D. Reese, Joseph Ewan, H. R. Reed, W. R. Anderson, M.N. Sears; Windler, Keenan, - Lombardo, - Williams; R. L. Lane, JR., J. B. Lewis, C. F. Hyams, S. B. Jones, Samuel B. Jones, Jr., John W. Thieret, William B. Fox, Louis Williams, R. L. Wilbur, Edward S. Steele, Robert F. Thorne, Geo M. Merrill, J.B. Norton, Harry E. Ahles, and R.S. Leisner. States and Counties: Alabama: Dale and Sumter. Arkansas: Conway, Garland, Hot Spring, Jefferson, Lee, Pope, Pulaski, and Sebastian. Dist of Columbia: Addison Hts. Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Brevard, Calhoun, Collier, Dade, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Jackson, Jefferson, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, St Johns, Sarasota, Seminole, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington. Georgia: Decatur, Grady, Taylor, and Thomas. Louisiana: Evangeline, Iberia, and Ouachita. Maryland: Baltimore. Mississippi: Harrison, Lamar, Pearl River, and Saratoga-city. North Carolina: Alleghany, Bertie, Bladen, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Cherokee, Davidson, Harnett, Haywood, Iredell, Jackson, Mitchell, Orange, Robeson, Swain, Vance, Wilkes, and Wilson. South Carolina: Beaufort, Cherokee, Colleton, Darlington, and Jasper. Tennessee: Anderson, Bedford, and Coffee. Virginia: Amelia, Brunswick, Giles, Prince Edward, Roanoke, and Southampton. West Virginia: Cabell.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cathey, S. E., L. R. Boring, et al. (2010). "Assessment of N2 fixation capability of native legumes from the longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem." Environmental and Experimental Botany 67: 444-450.
  2. Deyrup, M. J. E., and Beth Norden (2002). "The diversity and floral hosts of bees at the Archbold Biological Station, Florida (Hymenoptera: Apoidea)." Insecta mundi 16(1-3).