Trilisa odoratissima

Trilisa odoratissima
Photo taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae ⁄ Compositae
Genus:	Trilisa
Species:	T. odoratissima
Binomial name
Trilisa odoratissima (J.F. Gmel.) Herb.
Natural range of Trilisa odoratissima from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Vanillaleaf

Synonym: Carphephorus odoratissimus

Description

A description of Trilisa odoratissima is provided in The Flora of North America.

Ecology

Habitat

It is found in frequently burned pine flatwoods or dry prairies (Carrington et al 2013) and moist areas, depressions, and seepages within burned upland longleaf pine-wiregrass communities (Kirkman et al 1998) and oak-pine woodlands on Ultisols, as well as sand ridges within flatwoods and pine-saw palmettos (FSU Herbarium). It was absent from the seed bank in disturbed and undisturbed sites in North Carolina (Cohen et al 2004). It occurs primarily on sandy and drying loamy soils (FSU Herbarium). It is found in disturbed areas such as roadsides, fields, and ditches as well as undisturbed sites (Cohen et al 2004, FSU Herbarium). Associated species include Quercus, Pinus, Pinus elliottii, Sabal palmetto, and Aristida stricta (FSU Herbarium).

Trilisa odoratissima is restricted to native groundcover with a statistical affinity in upland pinelands of South Georgia (Ostertag and Robertson 2007). While this species is found in the uplands, it is found in the lowlands as well (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

It has been seen flowering September through November and fruiting in October through November (FSU Herbarium).

Fire ecology

It is fire-tolerant (Cohen et al 2004). T. odoratissima was a prevalent species on burned plots (Kush et al 1999).

Pollination

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

Apidae: Bombus pennsylvanicus

Halictidae: Augochlorella aurata, Halictus poeyi

Megachilidae: Coelioxys octodentata, C. sayi, Dianthidium floridiense, Megachile albitarsis, M. inimica

References and notes

Carrington, M. E. and J. J. Mullahey (2013). "Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) flowering and fruiting response to time since fire." Rangeland Ecology & Management 66: 43-50.

Cohen, S., R. Braham, et al. (2004). "Seed bank viability in disturbed longleaf pine sites." Restoration Ecology 12: 503-515.

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: L. C. Anderson, E. L. Bridges, E. H. Butts, A. F. Clewell, R. K. Godfrey, R. D. Houk, R. Komarek, R. Kral, R. L. Lazor, J. Morrill, R. A. Norris, S. L. Orzell, J. D. Ray Jr., P. L. Redfearn Jr., V. I. Sullivan and R. White. States and Counties: Florida: Bay, Duval, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Okaloosa, Pasco, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Wakulla, and Walton. Georgia: Grady and Thomas.

Kirkman, L. K., M. B. Drew, et al. (1998). "Effects of experimental fire regimes on the population dynamics of Schwalbea americana L." Plant Ecology 137: 115-137.

Kush, J. S., R. S. Meldahl, et al. (1999). "Understory plant community response after 23 years of hardwood control treatments in natural longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 29: 1047-1054.

Ostertag, T.E., and K.M. Robertson. 2007. A comparison of native versus old-field vegetation in upland pinelands managed with frequent fire, South Georgia, USA. Pages 109–120 in R.E. Masters and K.E.M. Galley (eds.). Proceedings of the 23rd Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference: Fire in Grassland and Shrubland Ecosystems.