Lespedeza angustifolia

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Lespedeza angustifolia
Insert.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae
Genus: Lespedeza
Species: L. angustifolia
Binomial name
Lespedeza angustifolia
(Pursh) Elliott
LESP ANGU dist.jpg
Natural range of Lespedeza angustifolia from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: narrowleaf lespedeza

Description

Distribution

Ecology

“Lespedeza angustifolia was distinctly associated with the more hydric end of the gradient…”[1]

Habitat

It is limited to terrestiral uplands. Habitats include sandhills, pine flatwoods, and oldfield pinelands, as well as dry pond margins and open flood plains on areas that are mesic to excessively well drained. Soils include sand and sandy loams, including Ultisols, Entisols, and dry Spodosols.[2]. Other soil types includes red sandy clay hills and sandy peat (FSU Herbarium). Presence of Imperata cylindric (cogan grass), an invasive plant found in the southeastern United States, did not deter the occurrence of L. angustifolia in plots that had been burned every 1 to 2 years in southeastern Mississippi.[3] L. angustifolia also appears to be associated with wet areas due to a higher tolerance for periodically inundated soil conditions.[4]. It has been documented to occur in dried up bottoms of sinkhole ponds (FSU Herbarium). In its natural habitat it requires frequent fire for persistence. It is primarily located in undisturbed sites and sometimes colonizes freqeuntly burned old-field pinelands.[5]

Phenology

It blooms from September to November. Frequent where present by populations tend to be separated from one another.[5]

Seed dispersal

Seed bank and germination

Lespedeza and other legume species have the hard seed coat. Species with hard seed coats are likely capable of forming long-term persistent seed banks, and continuation of the buried seed bag portion of this study will yield long-term data on this subject.[6] “Although perennial species of longleaf pine ecosystems, such as Lespedeza, persist through frequent fire, fire exposes seeds in soil to higher temperatue and high amplitudes of temperature fluctuation[7], leading in some cases to germination.”[6]

Fire ecology

“White et. al. (1990) reported that frequent dormant season burning increased legume populations in southern pine forests, although fires during the gorwing season at the same frequency tended to reduce legume abundance.”[8]

Pollination

bee and lepidopteran pollinated in chasmogamous flowers afc

Use by animals

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. Hainds, M. J., R. J. Mitchell, et al. (1999). "Distribution of native legumes (Leguminoseae) in frequently burned longleaf pine (Pinaceae)-wiregrass (Poaceae) ecosystems." American Journal of Botany 86: 1606-1614.
  2. Clewell, Andre. 2014. Personal observations
  3. Brewer, J. S. and S. P. Cralle (2003). "Phosphorus addition reduces invasion of a longleaf pine savanna (southeastern USA) by a non-indigenous grass (Imperata cylindrica)." Plant Ecology 167: 237-245.
  4. Hainds, M. J., R. J. Mitchell, et al. (1997). "Legume population dynamics in frequently burned longleaf pine-wiregrass fire ecosystem." Proceedings Longleaf Alliance Conference: Longleaf Alliance Report 1: 82-86. Hainds, M. J., R. J. Mitchell, et al. (1999). "Distribution of native legumes (Leguminoseae) in frequently burned longleaf pine (Pinaceae)-wiregrass (Poaceae) ecosystems." American Journal of Botany 86: 1606-1614.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Clewell, Andre. 2014. Personal observations.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Coffey, K. L. and L. K. Kirkman (2006). "Seed germination strategies of species with restoration potential in a fire-maintained pine savanna." Natural Areas Journal 26: 289-299.
  7. Grime, J.P. 1989. Seed banks in ecological perspective. Pp. xv-xxii in M.A. Leck, V.T.Parker, and R.L. Simpson, eds., Ecology of Soil Seed Banks. Academic Press, San Diego, Calif.
  8. Hainds, M. J., R. J. Mitchell, et al. (1997). "Legume population dynamics in frequently burned longleaf pine-wiregrass fire ecosystem." Proceedings Longleaf Alliance Conference: Longleaf Alliance Report 1: 82-86.