Richardia scabra

Richardia scabra
Photo was taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order:	Rubiales
Family:	Rubiaceae
Genus:	Richardia
Species:	R. scabra
Binomial name
Richardia scabra L.
Natural range of Richardia scabra from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Rough Mexican Flower (Nelson 2006).

Description

"Diffuse, decumbent, pubescent to pilose annuals or perennials, the stem 1-7 dm long or tall. Leaves opposite, connected by fimbriate stipules, lanceolate to elliptic or weakly oblanceolate, 2.5-7 cm long including the often indehiscent petioles, 1-2 cm wide. Inflorescences terminal, glomerate, involucrate, the bracts ovate or widely ovate-lanceolate, often dimorphic; corolla white, funnelform, lobes shorter than tube, anthers inserted at the rim of the tube. Fruit leathery, 3-4 mm long, separating into 4 in dehiscent carpels." - Radford et al 1964

"Annual. Corolla 5-6 mm long, lobes less than 1/3 the length of the tube. Fruit tuberculate." - Radford et al 1964

Distribution

It is observed in South Carolina Coastal Plain (Lewis and Harshbarger 1976).

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain region, R. scabra can be found in woodlands and upland pine communities (FSU Herbarium). It can also be found in vacant lots, roadsides, abandoned fields, and powerline corridors (FSU Herbarium; Nelson 2006). It grows in fine sandy loams, that are poorly drained with slow permeability (Lewis and Harshbarger 1976).

Phenology

It blooms from June through December (Nelson 2006).

Pollination

Deyrup observed these bees, Agapostemon splendens, Augochloropsis sumptuosa, Anthidiellum maculatum rufimaculatum, Megachile mendica, M. texana, Apis mellifera, and Bombus pennsylvanicus, on R. scabra (Deyrup et al 2002).

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

Apidae: Apis mellifera, Bombus pennsylvanicus

Halictidae: Agapostemon splendens, Augochloropsis sumptuosa, Lasioglossum lepidii

Megachilidae: Anthidiellum notatum rufomaculatum, Megachile mendica

Sphecidae: Ammophila pictipennis, Cerceris tolteca, Prionyx thomae, Stictia carolina, Tachytes pepticus

Vespidae: Leptochilus republicanus, Parancistrocerus salcularis rufulus

Use by animals

Richardia scabra was heavily fed on by Gopher tortoises in agricultural areas of southwestern Georgia (Garner and Landers 1981)

References and notes

Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.

Deyrup, Mark, Jayanthi Edirisinghe, and Beth Norden. 2002. The Diversity and Floral Hosts of Bees at the Archbold Biological Station, Florida (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Insect Mundi 16.1-3: 87-120.

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: July 2015. Collectors: : R. Komarek, Robert K. Godfrey, Andre F. Clewell, R. A. Norris, Loran C. Anderson, Edwin L. Tyson, D. E. Breedlove, Peter H. Raven, K E Blum, J. Dwyer, H. Loftin, Edwin L. Tyson, C. Kupfer, H. Smith, G. Martinez Calderon. States and Counties: Florida: Leon, Lafayette, Liberty. Georgia: Baker, Thomas. Country: Panama, Mexico. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.

Garner, J. A. and J. L. Landers. 1981. Foods and habitat of the gopher tortoise in southwestern Georgia. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 35:120-134.

Lewis, C. E. and T. J. Harshbarger. 1976. Shrub and herbaceous vegetation after 20 years of prescribed burning in the South Carolina coastal plain. Journal of Range Management 29:13-18.

Nelson, Gil. Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers: A Field Guide to the Wildflowers of the Coastal Regions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Northeastern Florida. Guilford, CT: FalconGuide, 2006. 159. Print.

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. 981. Print.