Balduina angustifolia

Balduina angustifolia
Photo by Karan A. Rawlins, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae ⁄ Compositae
Genus:	Balduina
Species:	B. angustifolia
Binomial name
Balduina angustifolia (Pursh) B.L. Rob.
Natural range of Balduina angustifolia from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Coastal plain honeycombhead

Taxonomic notes

Synonyms: Actinospermum angustifolium (Pursh) Torrey & A. Gray; (Buphthalmum angustifolium Pursh The Flora of North America).

Description

A description of Balduina angustifolia is provided in The Flora of North America.

The genus Balduina is characterized by receptacular bractlets connected in a honeycomb like structure surrounding the achene (Small 1933). It is a biennial species that forms a basal rosette the first year and a leafy flowering stem the second year (Anderson and Menges 1997). It can grow up to 4-5 feet in height, with many side branches near the top .

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida, B. angustifolia has been found in sand dunes; turkey oak sand ridges; pine scrubs; rosemary-oak scrubs; scrub oak-longleaf pine ridges; wiregrass/longleaf pine sandhills; pine flatwoods; bordering sidestreams; open woodlands; and xeric oak/saw palmetto scrubs (FSU Herbarium). There are greater populations of B. angustifolia in bare, open sands than in sites with shrubs or litter, making it a gap specialist (Stephens et al. 2013). It is early successional species and has been found to have a greater population growth in degraded scrubs compared to intact scrubs (Stephens et al. 2013). In a study conducted by Petru and Menges (2004) found that B. angustifolia responded to an experimental sand removal by elongating the flowering stems. It has been found in disturbed areas such as roadsides, highways, powerline corridors, bulldozed scrub oak ridges and clobbered slash pine forests (FSU Herbarium). Soil types include deep sand and loamy sand (FSU Herbarium). Associated species include Gaillardia, Pityopsis, Polygonella, Chrysoma, Ceratiola ericoides, Liatris, Leptoloma cognata, Pinus clausa, and Quercus virginiana (FSU Herbarium).

Sandhill and scrub habitats have a low availability of inorganic nutrients such as phosphorous causing B. angustifolia to depend on mycorrhizal fungi colonization on the taproot system (Anderson and Menges 1997).

Phenology

Both the disc and ray flowers are yellow, with the ripe disc flowers forming a grey honeycomb shape seed . The ripe seed can remain attached to the stem for months, allowing for favorable germination conditions in late winter and early spring. It has been observed flowering August through November and fruiting September and October (FSU Herbarium).

Fire ecology

Following a fire, the first year rosettes were unable to survive or resprout, making it a fire-sensitive biennial (Anderson and Menges 1997). However, populations have been found to later re-establish on a burn site from seed (Anderson and Menges 1997).

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Balduina angustifoliaat Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):

Andrenidae: Andrena fulvipennis

Apidae: Apis mellifera, Bombus impatiens, B. pennsylvanicus, Nomada fervida, Svastra aegis, Triepiolus concavus

Halictidae: Agapostemon splendens, Augochlora pura, Augochlorella aurata, Augochloropsis metallica, A. sumptuosa, Dieunomia heteropoda, Halictus poeyi, Lasioglossum coreopsis, L. miniatulus, L. nymphalis. L. pectoralis, L. puteulanum

Megachilidae: Anthidiellum perplexum, Coelioxys dolichos, C. germana, C. mexicana, C. modesta, C. sayi, C. texana, Dolichostelis louisae, Megachile albitarsis, M. brevis pseudobrevis, M. georgica, M. inimica, M. mendica, M. petulans, M. policaris, M. pruina, M. texana, M. xylocopoides, Trachusa fontemvitae

Sphecidae: Bembix sayi, Bicyrtes capnoptera, Ectemnius rufipes ais' Philanthus ventilabris

Vespidae: Mischocyttarus cubensis, Pachodynerus erynnis, Zethus slossonae

Use by animals

It is common in areas of soil disturbance produced by gopher tortoises (Anderson and Menges 1997).

Conservation and Management

Global conservation status: G5.

References and notes

Anderson, R. C. and E. S. Menges (1997). "Effects of fire on sandhill herbs: nutrients, mycorrhizae, and biomass allocation." American Journal of Botany 84: 938-948.

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

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: October 2015. Collectors: William P. Adams, Jame Amoroso, Loran C. Anderson, Robert Blaisdell, K.E. Blum, A.F. Clewell, George R. Cooley, Richard J. Eaton, R.K. Godfrey, H.E. Grelen, Bruce Hansen, JoAnn Hansen, Richard D. Houk, R. Kral, Bob Lazor, S.W. Leonard, Sidney McDaniel, Thomas E. Miller, J.B. Morrill, Putnam, James D. Ray Jr., Siri von Reis, Paul L. Redfearn Jr., Paul O. Schallert, Victoria I. Sullivan, Bian Tan, E.L. Tyson, Jean Wooten. States and Counties: Florida: Bay, Broward, Calhoun, Collier, Columbia, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Hernando, Highlands, Jackson, Lafayette, Lee, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Martin, Okaloosa, Osceola, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, Suwannee, Taylor, Walton, Wakulla. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Grelen, Harold E.. “Plant Succession on Cleared Sandhills in Northwest Florida”. American Midland Naturalist 67.1 (1962): 36–44.

Parker, Earl S., and Samuel B. Jones. A Systematic Study of the Genus Balduina (compositae, Heliantheae). Brittonia 27.4 (1975): 355–361.

Petru, M. and E. S. Menges (2004). "Shifting sands in Florida scrub gaps and roadsides: Dynamic microsites for herbs." American Midland Naturalist 151(1): 101-113.

Small, J.K. 1933. Manual of the Southeaster flora. New York.

Stephens, E. L., M. R. Tye, et al. (2014). "Habitat and microsite influence demography of two herbs in intact and degraded scrub." Population Ecology 56(3): 447-461.