Rhexia alifanus

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Rhexia alifanus
Rhexia alifanu SEF.jpg
Photo by John Gwaltney hosted at Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Order: Myrtales
Family: Melastomataceae
Genus: Rhexia
Species: R. alifanus
Binomial name
Rhexia alifanus
Walter
RHEX ALIF DIST.JPG
Natural range of Rhexia alifanus from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Taxonomic Notes

Synonym: none

Variety: none

Description

R. alifanus is a perennial forb/herb of the Melastomataceae family that is native to North America. [1]

Distribution

R. alifanus is found in the southeastern United States; specifically in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. [1]

Ecology

Habitat

R. alifanus is typically found in pine flatwoods, savannas, and pocosin borders.[2] It does not respond to soil disturbance by clearcutting and chopping in North Florida flatwoods forests.[3]

Transitions between uplands and lowlands, commonly wet praire, is another common habitat to find R. alifanus. [4]

Phenology

R. alifanus has been observed flowering May through July. [5]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by gravity. [6]

Pollination

Bees are pollinators for R. alifanus. [7]

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 USDA Plant Database
  2. Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  3. Moore, W.H., B.F. Swindel, and W.S. Terry. (1982). Vegetative Response to Clearcutting and Chopping in a North Florida Flatwoods Forest. Journal of Range Management 35(2):214-218.
  4. [Crandall, R. M. and W. J. Platt (2012). "Habitat and fire heterogeneity explain the co-occurrence of congeneric resprouter and reseeder Hypericum spp. along a Florida pine savanna ecoline." Plant Ecology 213: 1643-1654.]
  5. 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: 29 MAY 2018
  6. 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 Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.
  7. [Pitts-Singer, T. L., et al. (2002). "Insect pollinators of three rare plants in a Florida longleaf pine forest." Florida Entomologist 85(2): 308-316.]