Difference between revisions of "Sporobolus floridanus"

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==Distribution==
 
==Distribution==
It can be found in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.<ref name="Weakley 2015"/><ref name="USDA"/>
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''Sporobolus floridanus'' is endemic to an area from southern South Carolina to peninsular Florida and west through Alabama, but the majority is found in Florida.<ref>Sorrie, B. A. and A. S. Weakley 2001. Coastal Plain valcular plant endemics: Phytogeographic patterns. Castanea 66: 50-82.</ref> It can be found in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.<ref name="Weakley 2015"/><ref name="USDA"/>
  
 
==Ecology==
 
==Ecology==

Revision as of 14:46, 14 June 2021

Sporobolus floridanus
Sporobolus floridanus DL.jpg
Photo by Bobby Hattaway hosted at Discoverlife.org
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Liliopsida - Moncots
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Sporobolus
Species: S. floridanus
Binomial name
Sporobolus floridanus
Chapm.
SPOR FLOR DIST.JPG
Natural range of Sporobolus floridanus from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common Name(s): Florida dropseed[1]

Taxonomic Notes

Description

‘’Sporobolus floridanus’’ is a monoecious perennial graminoid.[2]

Distribution

Sporobolus floridanus is endemic to an area from southern South Carolina to peninsular Florida and west through Alabama, but the majority is found in Florida.[3] It can be found in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.[1][2]

Ecology

Habitat

S. floridanus has been found in sandy pinelands, pine savannahs, marsh edges, longleaf pine-wiregrass flatwoods, and pine woodlands.[4] It is also found in disturbed areas including burned pine flatwoods and powerline corridors.[4] Associated species: Sarracenia, Macbridea, Cuphea, Verbesine chapmanii, Justicia crassifolia, Rhexia, Liatris, Carphephorus, and Helianthus angustifolius, Anthaenantia, Paspalum, Erianthus, Arnoglossum, Eupatorium, and Bigelowia, and Rhynchospora spp.[4]

S. floridanus is additionally found in wet savannas,[1], seepage bogs, and titi/cypress swamps and is abundant in wet pine savannas.[5] In north Florida mesic flatwoods S. floridanus occurred in 53% of plots with a mean coverage of 0.0613 m-2 and was the sole herbaceous indicator species this community type.[6]

Sporobolus floridanus is an indicator species for the North Florida Mesic Flatwoods community type as described in Carr et al. (2010).[7]

Phenology

S. floridanus has been observed to flower from June through September.[1][8]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by gravity.[9]

Fire ecology

In Georgia, the percent cover of S. floridanus increased from 0.4% after one growing season following a burn to 1.0% after 8 growing seasons.[10]

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

Cultural use

In the past, native peoples would harvest the tiny husk-less grains and grind them into a flour.[11]

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Weakley A. S.(2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  2. 2.0 2.1 USDA, NRCS. (2016). The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 10 January 2018). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
  3. Sorrie, B. A. and A. S. Weakley 2001. Coastal Plain valcular plant endemics: Phytogeographic patterns. Castanea 66: 50-82.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Florida State University Herbarium Database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2021. Collectors: L.C. Anderson and R.K. Godfrey. States and counties: Florida: Franklin, Gulf, Liberty, Nassau, Wakulla, and Walton.
  5. Drewa P. B., Platt W. J., and Moser E. B. (2002). Community structure along elevation gradients in headwater regions of longleaf pine savannas. Plant Ecology 160(1):61-78.
  6. Carr S. C., Robertson K. M., and Peet R. K. (2010). A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75(2):153-189.
  7. Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
  8. Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 10 JAN 2018
  9. 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.
  10. Lemon P. C. (1949). Successional responses of herbs in the longleaf-slash pine forest after fire. Ecology 30(2):135-145.
  11. Fernald, et al. 1958. Edible Plants of Eastern North America. Harper and Row Publishers, New York.