Rhynchosia difformis
| Rhynchosia difformis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo by Guy Anglin, Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants |
| Class: | Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae |
| Genus: | Rhynchosia |
| Species: | R. difformis |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhynchosia difformis (Elliott) DC. | |
| |
| Natural range of Rhynchosia difformis from USDA NRCS Plants Database. | |
Common name: Doubleform snoutbean
Contents
Taxonomic notes
Description
Rhynchosia difformis is a perennial herbaceous vine.
“Erect, trailing or climbing, perennial herbs or shrubs. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate or occasionally 1-foliolate; leaflets usually entire and often bearing amber glands, usually estipellate; stipules ovate to lanceolate. Flowers papilionaceous, rarely solitary or in pairs but usually in axillary or occasionally also terminal racemes, several to numerous, loose to compactly clustered, pedicellate, each subtended by a caduceus bract. Calyx tube campanulate or tubular, nearly regular, lobes equal or nearly so in size but with the 2 uppermost partially united; petals yellow in ours, often equaling or even shorter than the calyx; stamens diadelphous, 9 and 1. Legume usually oblong and flattened, 1-2 seeded, dehiscent." [1]
"Prostrate or climbing vine0.5-1 m long with strongly angled, tawny-pubescent stems. Leaves mostly 3-foliolate but the lowermost usually 1-foliolate; leaflets of the 1-foliolate leaves reniform while those of the 3-foliolateleavse usually orbicular to ovate or widely elliptic (the lateral often asymmetric), 1.5-4 cm long, conspicuously reticulate, short-pubescent and conspicuously glandular on both surfaces, stipels lacking; stipules persistent, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3-8 mm long. Racemes axillary, 1.5-4 cm long, subsessile or with peduncles to 3 cm long with 2-8 closely clustered flowers on pedicels 1-5 mm long each subtended by a caduceus, linear bract 2-5 mm long. Calyx densely appressed to ovate-lanceolate, 6-10 mm long, long-acuminate to subulate; petals yellow, 7-9 mm long. Legume 1.5-2 cm long, 6-8 mm broad, pilose, inconspicuously glandular." [1]
Distribution
Ecology
Habitat
R. difformis occurs in dry sandy soil, and in open light conditions . [2] It can be found in longleaf pine-wiregrass-scrub oak communities, sandhills, and mixed hardwood woodlands and hammocks. [2] However, it can also be found in disturbed areas, including roadsides and power line corridors. [2] Associated species include Pinus palustris, Quercus incana, Q. laevis, Q. margaretta, Q. stellata, Aristida stricta, Desmodium ochroleucum, Commelina erecta, Schoenus nigricans, Rhynchospora, Scleria, Juniperus, and Danthonia sericea. [2]
Phenology
Flowering has been observed in May through August, while fruiting has been observed in May through August, as well as October. [2]
Seed dispersal
This species disperses by being consumed by vertebrates (being assumed). [3]
Fire ecology
This species has been found in habitat that is maintained by periodic fire. [2]
Conservation and management
Cultivation and restoration
Photo Gallery
References and notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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. 638. Print.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, W. C. Holmes, Harry E. Ahles, J. Haesloop, R.K. Godfrey, Wilson Baker, Bill & Pam Anderson, C. Jackson, James D. McClain, L. Cecil King, R. C. Phillips, Richard S. Mitchell, Richard D. Houk, William Lindsey, Rodie White, R. A. Norris, Cecil R Slaughter, and Richard R. Clinebell II. States and Counties: Florida: Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Marion, Polk, Suwannee, Wakulla, and Washington. Georgia: Beaufort, Grady, McIntosh, and Thomas. South Carolina: Dorchester, and Jasper. Louisiana: Natchitoches.
- ↑ 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.
