Paspalum setaceum
Common names: Thin paspalum[1], Fringeleaf paspalum[2], Hairy lens grass[3]
| Paspalum setaceum | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo by Shirley Denton hosted at Atlas of Florida Plants | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants |
| Class: | Liliopsida - Moncots |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Genus: | Paspalum |
| Species: | P. setaceum |
| Binomial name | |
| Paspalum setaceum Michx. | |
| |
| Natural range of Paspalum setaceum from USDA NRCS Plants Database. | |
Contents
Taxonomic Notes
Synonym: P. ciliatifolium Michaux var. ciliatifolium; P. debile (Michaux); P. propinquum Nash.[4]
Varieties: Paspalum setaceum var. ciliatifolium (Michaux), Paspalum setaceum var. longepedunculatum (LeConte), Paspalum setaceum var. muhlengergii (Nash), Paspalum setaceum var. psammophilum (Nash), Paspalum setaceum var. rigidifolium (Nash), Paspalum setaceum var. stramineum (Nash), Paspalum setaceum var. supinum (Bosc ex Poiret), Paspalum setaceum var. villosissimum (Nash).[4]
Description
Paspalum setaceum is a perennial graminoid of the Poaceeae family that is native to North America.[1] It has a tufted growth that originates from short rhizomes. The culms are 1-8 dm tall with glabrous nodes and internodes. The leaves are basal and cauline. The blades are 4 dm long and 12 mm wide, glabrous or pubescent, with scaberulous and ciliate margins. The sheaths are glabrous or pubescent, with scarious and ciliate margins. Ligules are membranous, ciliate apically, and 2-6 mm long. There are 1-2 racemes which are terminal and axillary, 4-14 cm long, with scaberulous pedicels that are 0.5-1.2 mm long.[4]
Paspalum setaceum does not have specialized underground storage units apart from its rhizomes.[5] Diaz-Toribio and Putz (2021) recorded this species to have an non-structural carbohydrate concentration of 39.7 mg/g (ranking 81 out of 100 species studied) and water content of 55.6% (ranking 33out of 100 species studied).[5]
Distribution
P. setaceum is found throughout the majority of the continental United States, excepting western states North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California. It is also found in Ontario, Canada.[1]
Paspalum setaceum var. psammophilum is endemic to an area from southeastern Massachusetts to southern New Jersey and adjacent Delmarva Peninsual.[6]
Ecology
Habitat
Habitats include sandhills, savannas, and other dry soils. Other varieties can be found in grasslands, pine flatwoods, pine savannas, old fields, and other fields.[7] Specimens have been collected from habitats such as dry sand of grass clearing, a wooded ridge with sandy loam, open wet pine flatwoods and mixed hardwood swamps, floodplain forest, shade near lakes, coastal hammock, pine flatwoods, fire run in a flatwood, botanical gardens, sandhill, and waste ground.[8] P. setaceum responds positively to agricultural-based soil disturbance in South Carolina coastal plain communities. This marks it as an indicator species for post-agricultural woodland.[9] However, it responds positively to soil disturbance by roller chopping in South Florida[10] as well as both roller chopping and clearcutting in North Florida.[11] P. setaceum responds positively or not at all to soil disturbance by chopping, disking, fertilization, and bedding in South Florida dry prairies.[12] It also responds positively to soil disturbance by clearcutting and chopping in North Florida flatwoods forests.[13]
Paspalum setaceum is frequent and abundant in the Peninsula Xeric Sandhills, North Florida Longleaf Woodlands, North Florida Subxeric Sandhills, and Central Florida Flatwoods/Prairies community types as described in Carr et al. (2010).[14]
Phenology
P. setaceum has been observed flowering in June.[15]
Seed dispersal
This species is thought to be dispersed by gravity.[16] It has been found that gopher tortoises can disperse the seeds of the grass through their scat. The germination success of these partially digested seeds is much lower than those that are not.[17]
Pollination and use by animals
P. setaceum provides forage for livestock and deer in Texas.[1] Birds have been observed to eat the seeds.[1]
Conservation, cultivation, and restoration
Cultural use
Photo Gallery
References and notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 USDA Plant Database
- ↑ Gee, K. L., et al. (1994). White-tailed deer: their foods and management in the cross timbers. Ardmore, OK, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.
- ↑ Goldblum, D., et al. (2013). "The impact of seed mix weight on diversity and species composition in a tallgrass prairie restoration planting, Nachusa grasslands, Illinois, USA." Ecological Restoration 31(2): 154-167.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 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.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Diaz-Toribio, M.H. and F. E. Putz 2021. Underground carbohydrate stores and storage organs in fire-maintained longleaf pine savannas in Florida, USA. American Journal of Botany 108: 432-442.
- ↑ Sorrie, B. A. and A. S. Weakley 2001. Coastal Plain valcular plant endemics: Phytogeographic patterns. Castanea 66: 50-82.
- ↑ Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
- ↑ URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2018. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, R.K. Godfrey, Roy Komarek, DJ Banks, RA Norris, Andre F. Clewell, Kevin Oakes, Chris Cooksey, M. Davis, Brenda Herring, Don Herring, Cecil Slaughter, M. Darst, A. Stiles, H. Light, J. Good, L. Peed, K. Smith, R. A. Pursell, A.H. Curtiss, Sidney McDaniel, Robert J Lemaire, Gwynn W. Ramsey, R. E. Perdue Jr., H. Kurz, R. F. Thorne, R. A. Davidson, R. S. Mitchell, W. Reese, P. Redfearn, W.C. Brumbach, Angus Gholson, Daniel B. Ward, S.T. Cooper, James B McFarlin, Silvus, Grady W. Reinert, A.A. Eaton, Richard Carter, Paul O. Schallert, Travis MacClendon, Karen MacClendon. States and counties: Florida ( Wakulla, Liberty, Franklin, Santa Rosa, Jefferson, Jackson, Leon, Suwannee, Putnam, Flagler, Osceola, Dixie, Levy, Seminole, Volusia, Walton, Lee, Martin, Gadsden, Holmes, Pinellas, Clay, Polk, Marion, Monroe, Gulf, bay, Sarasota, Highland, Nassau, Dade, Hernando, Escambia, Gilchrist) Georgia (Charlton, Gadsden, Thomas, Grady, Clinch)
- ↑ Brudvig, L.A., E Grman, C.W. Habeck, and J.A. Ledvina. (2013). Strong legacy of agricultural land use on soils and understory plant communities in longleaf pine woodlands. Forest Ecology and Management 310: 944-955.
- ↑ Lewis, C.E. (1970). Responses to Chopping and Rock Phosphate on South Florida Ranges. Journal of Range Management 23(4):276-282.
- ↑ Lewis, C.E., G.W. Tanner, and W.S. Terry. (1988). Plant responses to pine management and deferred-rotation grazing in north Florida. Journal of Range Management 41(6):460-465.
- ↑ Moore, W.H. and B.F. Swindel. (1981). Effects of Site Preparation on Dry Prairie Vegetation in South Florida. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 27(2)89-92.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
- ↑ 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: 24 MAY 2018
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Carlson, J. E., et al. (2003). "Seed dispersal by Gopherus polyphemus at Archbold Biological Station, Florida." Florida Scientist 66: 147-154.
