Agalinis purpurea

Agalinis purpurea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Orobanchaceae
Genus:	Agalinis
Species:	A. purpurea
Binomial name
Agalinis purpurea (L.) Pennell
Natural range of Agalinis purpurea from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common names: Smooth Gerardia; Purple False Foxglove

Description

It is an annual (Hall 1993).

Distribution

It is frequent in all of Florida. Found from west to Texas, north to Massachusetts (Hall 1993).

Ecology

Habitat

It is primarily in low, wet, sandy or peaty areas including streamsides and moist depressions within frequently burned pine communities, seepage slopes, fresh water marshes, cypress flats, and hardwood swamps. It also occurs on shallow limerock soils of slash pine rocklands in South Florida, as well as in high, well drained sandhills (Entisols). It occurs primarily in high light conditions, although it can also occur in relatively shaded habitats such as cypress and hardwood swamps (FSU Herbarium). It is tolerant of high densities of grass and sedges such as in pitcher plant bogs and marshes. Its soil tolerance is wide, including peat (Histosols), loams (Ultisols), and deep sands (Entisols and Spodosols). It also can be found alongside roads, bordering flatwoods, powerline corridors, and other disturbed areas (FSU Herbarium). This species does will in high light intensity areas and grows scattered (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

It flowers from April to November, primarily in October, and fruits from May to November (FSU Herbarium).

Seed bank and germination

Agalinis purpurea was absent from the seed bank of ephemeral ponds in Hyannis though they were present as adults. The composition of the seed bank often predicts the future composition of plants after the disturbance of water level drawdown (Neill et al 2009).

Fire ecology

Communities are near fire-dependent communities such as longleaf pine/wiregrass communities (FSU Herbarium).

References and notes

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Robert K. Godfrey, John Morrill, J. M. Canne, Grady W. Reinert, O. Lakela, P. Genelle, G. Fleming, A. H. Curtiss, Duval, John C. Semple, L. Brouillet, Wilson Baker, Jane Brockmann, and J. Ferborgh. States and Counties: Florida: Franklin, Wakulla, Leon , Taylor, Bay, Jefferson, Nassau, Collier, Citrus, Putnam, Monroe, Dade, and Jackson. Georgia: Thomas.

Hall, David W. Illustrated Plants of Florida and the Coastal Plain: based on the collections of Leland and Lucy Baltzell. 1993. A Maupin House Book. Gainesville. 342. Print.

Neill, C., M. O. Bezerra, et al. (2009). "Distribution, species composition and management implications of seed banks in southern New England coastal plain ponds." Biological Conservation 142: 1350-1361.