Difference between revisions of "Lechea minor"

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(Taxonomic notes)
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Common name: Thymeleaf pinweed
 
Common name: Thymeleaf pinweed
 
==Taxonomic notes==
 
==Taxonomic notes==
Synonym: ''Lechea thymifolia'' Michaux
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Synonym: ''Lechea thymifolia'' Michaux.<ref name="weakley">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.</ref>
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Varieties: none.<ref name="weakley">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.</ref>
  
 
==Description==  
 
==Description==  

Revision as of 18:21, 17 September 2020

Lechea minor
Lech mino.JPG
Photo by Shirley Denton (Copyrighted, use by photographer’s permission only), Nature Photography by Shirley Denton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Violales
Family: Cistaceae
Genus: Lechea
Species: L. minor
Binomial name
Lechea minor
L.
LECH MINO dist.jpg
Natural range of Lechea minor from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Thymeleaf pinweed

Taxonomic notes

Synonym: Lechea thymifolia Michaux.[1]

Varieties: none.[1]

Description

This species can be frequent where it occurs. [2]

"Perennial herbs with tap roots and basal rosettes of procumbent, leafy stems late in the season; early stems erect, several from a crown, freely branched above, appressed or spreading pubescent. Leaves opposite, subopposite, whorled or subverticillate on lower part of stem, usually alternate above, usually short-petiolate; leaves of the winter rosettes usually whorled or subverticillate. Inflorescence of scroppoid cymes or racemes in a panicle or theyrse. Sepals 5, outer 2 linear, inner 3 elliptic to ovate; petals 3, reddish or maroon, usually shorter than the sepals; stamens mostly 5-15; stigmas 3, red, plumose. Capsule 1-3 seeded; seeds reddish brown or brown ca. 1 mm long." [3]

"Stems appressed pubescent, 2-7 dm tall with mostly spreading ascending branches; principal stems 1-2 mm in diam. Leaves oblong to elliptic, spreading to spreading-ascending, 6-12 mm long, 1-3 mm wide, glabrous above, ciliate, pubescent beneath mostly on the midrib and near the margins; leaf arrangement similar to no. , but opposite and whorled arrangement often higher into the inflorescence; petioles ca. 1 mm long. Inner sepals shorter than the capsule, 1-1.5 mm long, outer slightly longer. Capsule ellipsoid 1.2-1.7 mm long, 0.7-1 mm broad, 3-seeded." [3]

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

This species can be found in sandy soils in open fields, open bogs, and longleaf pine forests. [2] It also occurs in human disturbed areas such as powerline corridors and in old roadbeds. [2] Associated species include Longleaf pine and wiregrass. [2]


Lechea minor is an indicator species for the Clayhill Longleaf Woodlands community type as described in Carr et al. (2010).[4]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by consumption by vertebrates. [5]

Seed bank and germination

Several short-lived perennial forbs also have a seed bank persistent for at least several years.[6]

Fire ecology

Can grow in areas that are annually burned. [2]

Conservation and management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 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. Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Robert K. Godfrey, Kevin Oakes, and R. Komarek. States and Counties: Florida: Leon and Franklin. Georgia: Baker, Grady, and Thomas.
  3. Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 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. 720-1. Print.
  4. Jump up Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
  5. Jump up Kirkman, L. Katherine. Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.
  6. Jump up Platt, W. J., S. M. Carr, et al. (2006). "Pine savanna overstorey influences on ground-cover biodiversity." Applied Vegetation Science 9: 37-50.