Agalinis tenuifolia
| Agalinis tenuifolia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo by John R. Gwaltney, Southeastern Flora.com | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Orobanchaceae |
| Genus: | Agalinis |
| Species: | A. tenuifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Agalinis tenuifolia (Vahl) Raf. | |
| |
| Natural range of Agalinis tenuifolia from USDA NRCS Plants Database. | |
Common names: slender garardia or slenderleaf false foxglove
Contents
Taxonomic notes
Synonyms: Gerardia tenuifolia Vahl var. tenuifolia; A. tenuifolia (Vahl) Rafinesque var. tenuifolia; A. tenuifolia (Vahl) Rafinesque var. leucanthera (Rafinesque) Pennell; A. tenuifolia (Vahl) Rafinesque var. macrophylla (Bentham) Blake; A. tenuifolia (Vahl) Rafinesque var. polyphylla (Small) Pennell; Gerardia tenuifolia Vahl ssp. polyphylla (Small) Pennell; Gerardia tenuifolia Vahl ssp. macrophylla (Bentham) Pennell; Gerardia polyphylla Small
Description
Annual. Parasitic to the roots of grasses and other herbs. Leaves are opposite, linear to filiform, and sometimes will have tufts on the shoots. Flowers are showy, in terminal racemes; the calyx is 5-parted, the lobes are shorter than the tube; the corolla is 5-parted. The flowers are rose-lavender in color and are rarely white. There are usually 2 yellow lines and numerous purple spots in the throat on the tube. The tube is broad, campanulate, and the lobes are shorter than the tube. The throat is usually lanose at the base of the 2 upper corolla lobes. There are 4 stamens, didynamous, that include filaments and anthers that are also lanose. The stigmas are elongated. The capsules are globose or subglobose, loculicidal [1].
Is very similar to Agalinis setacea. The difference between Agalinis tenuifolia and Agalinis setacea has to do with the upper corolla lobes. On A. tenuifolia, the upper corolla lobes will be arching over the stamens and closing, or nearly closing, the throat. On a dried specimen of A. tenuifolia, the upper lobes are glabrous basally, making it possible for determination. Flowers August to October[1], mostly in October in northern Florida [2].
Distribution
Agalinis tenuifolia is the most widely distributed throughout eastern North America [3], although varieties leucanthera and polyphylla are limited to the southeaseastern U.S. [4].
Ecology
This species is a vigorous parasite. It forms haustoria on all 19 commercial species included in Appendix III. No clear host preference was shown, although hardwood species supported more parasitic attachments than pine species [3]. It has been observed to be parasitic on grasses, gray goldenrod, western yarrow, wild strawberry, and tall anemone[5].
Habitat
Agalinis tenuifolia can be found in undisturbed grasslands and areas with low soil nutrients in the Great Lakes region [6]. Natural habitat in the Coastal Plain includes open upland woodlands, mixed pine-hardwood stands, mesic wooded edges of limestone glades and open grassy limestone glades, scrubby floodplain woods, borders of wooded mesic hammocks, dry sandy slopes, and calcareous clearings [7]. It occurs on xeric limestone prairies of Illinois [6], and in moist to dry savannas and bluffs [8]. Prefers semi-shade and sandy soils including sandy loam, sandy clay, and drying or dry loamy sand [7].
Agalinis tenuifolia also commonly grows in disturbed sites, including clear cut areas and the edges of pine plantations. Large populations may also be found growing at the margins of ditches and in other wet or moist habitats [3].
Associated species include Aristida, Eupatorium, Juniperus, Schoenus nigricans, Tridens flavus, Agalinis divaricata and others [7].
Phenology
In the Coastal Plain it has been observed flowering September through November, and fruiting in October and November[7].
Pollination
It attracts a wide variety of pollinators, including bees from the Halictid family. They serve as larval food for the common buckeye butterfly (Junonia coenia) caterpillars[9].
Use by animals
It is a larval host of the common buckeye butterfly[10].
References and notes
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. 343. Print.
USDA NRCS Plants Database team. URL: USDA NRCS Plants
Wunderlin, Richard P. and Bruce F. Hansen. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. Second edition. 2003. University Press of Florida: Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton/Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers. 547. Print.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. 1964, 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press. 960 pp. Print.
- ↑ [www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ PanFlora Plant Database]. Gil Nelson. Last accessed 15 JAN 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Musselman, L.J. and W.F. Mann, Jr. 1978. Root parasites of southern forests. General Technical Report SO-20. New Orleans, LA, USDA Forest Service.
- ↑ USDA NRCS Plants Database accessed 15 JAN 2015.
- ↑ [[1]]Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses. Accessed: March 22, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hogg, E.H. and J.K. Morton. 1983. The effects of nesting gulls on the vegetation and soil of islands in the Great Lakes. Canadian Journal of Botany 61:3240-3254.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium Database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Wilson Baker, L. Brouillet, J. M. Canne, A. F. Clewell, Angus Gholson, Robert K. Godfrey, R. Karl, S. W. Leonard, and John C. Semple. States and Counties: Florida: Calhoun, Escambia, Gadsden, Jackson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Walton, Wakulla, and Washington. Georgia: Newton.
- ↑ Wunderlin, Richard P. and Bruce F. Hansen. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. Second edition. 2003. University Press of Florida: Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton/Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers. 547 pp. Print.
- ↑ [[2]]Illinois Wildflowers. Accessed: March 21, 2016
- ↑ Missouri Department of Conservation
