Gymnopogon brevifolius
| Gymnopogon brevifolius | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo taken by Kevin Robertson | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants |
| Class: | Liliopsida – Monocotyledons |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae ⁄ Gramineae |
| Genus: | Gymnopogon |
| Species: | G. brevifolius |
| Binomial name | |
| Gymnopogon brevifolius Trin. | |
| |
| Natural range of Gymnopogon brevifolius from USDA NRCS Plants Database. | |
Common name: Shortleaf skeletongrass
Contents
Taxonomic notes
Description
"Tufted, rhizomatous, perennial; culms branching, nodes and internodes glabrous. Leaves cauline; blades glabrous on both surfaces, margins scaberulous, bases cordate; sheaths conspicuously overlapping, glabrous, usually pilose apically; ligules membranous, ciliolate, less than 0.4 mm long; collars usually pilose. Spikes racemose; branches spreading, flexuous, angled, scaberulous. Spikelets in two rows on one side of rachis, 1-flwoered, occasionally a rudiment present in G. amibguus, appressed; pedicels angled, scaberulous, absent or to 1.5 mm long. Glumes 1-nerved, margins usually scarious; paleas 2-nerved, margins usually scarious, acute; callus usually bearded; rachilla prolonged or capped by sterile floret. Grain reddish, linear-ellipsoid."[1]
"Culms 3-6 dm tall. Blades frequently cuspidate, to 9 cm long. Spikelets usually length of spike, 4.5-6.5 cmm long. Glumes 3.5-6.5 mm long; fertile lemma usually glabrous, body 3.5-4 mm long, awn usually 5-10 mm long, occasionally a long, awned sterile lemmas present; paleas 3.5-4 mm long. Grain 2.5-2.6 mm long."[1]
Distribution
It is generally found in the southeast and eastern United States.[2] More specifically, G. brevifolius can be found from southern New Jersey south to southern Florida, west to Louisiana and Arkansas, and disjunct in Kentucky in the Highland Rim and Texas.[3]
Ecology
Habitat
Gymnopogon brevifolius can generally be found in sandhills, pine savannas, prairies, dry woodlands, and calcareous glades.[3] This species is found on longleaf pine sandhills, open wiregrass-pinewoods savannas, mesic pine flatwoods, palmetto-wiregrass-longleaf pine woodlands, pine barrens, and mixed woodlands. Grows in dry and moist sandy loam in these environments as well as human disturbed habitats such as along back roads.[4] It is considered an indicator species of the upper panhandle savannas in Florida, and a possible indicator of native ground-cover in the same region.[5][6] As well, it is listed by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service as a facultative upland species, where it most often occurs in non-wetland habitats but can occasionally be found in wetland habitats.[2]
Associated species includes Aristida stricta, Muhlenbergia, Schizachyrium, Panicum anceps, Paspalum bifidum, Pinus palutris, Andropogon, Pinus elliottii, Lilium, Verbesina chapmanii, Platanthera integra, Carphephorus paniculatus, Sabal palmetto, Quercus falcata.[4]
Phenology
Generally, this species flowers from August until October.[3] It has been observed to flower and fruit in January, April, September through October, and December.[4][7] It also flowers in August.[8]
Seed dispersal
This species is thought to be dispersed by gravity. [9]
Fire ecology
It grows in pineland habitats that are fire-dependent.[5]
Use by animals
Overall, it is considered to have poor forage value.[10] It is eaten by white-tailed deer, and comprised their diets more in the summer than in the winter.[11] This species is considered one of the prinicipal grasses that are eaten by deer.[12]
Conservation and management
It is listed as endangered by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Program, and by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Natural Lands Management. It is also listed as a species of special concern by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Natural Heritage Program.[2]
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. 118. Print.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 USDA, NRCS. (2016). The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 17 May 2019). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Trina Mitchell, James R. Burkhalter, A. H. Curtiss, R. Kral, R.K. Godfrey, W. A. Silveus, and Carolyn Kindell. States and Counties: Florida: Calhoun, Duval, Franklin, Gulf, Jackson, Liberty, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington. Georgia: Grady.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Carr, S. C., et al. (2010). "A Vegetation Classification of Fire-Dependent Pinelands of Florida." Castanea 75(2): 153-189.
- ↑ Ostertag, T. E. and K. M. Robertson (2007). A comparison of native versus old-field vegetation in upland pinelands managed with frequent fire, south Georgia, USA. Proceedings of the 23rd Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference: Fire in Grassland and Shrubland Ecosystems, Tallahassee, Tall Timbers Research Station.
- ↑ 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: 17 MAY 2019
- ↑ Flint, C. L. (1887). Grasses and forage plants: a practical treatise comprising their natural history; comparative nutritive value; methods of cultivating, cutting, and curing. Boston, MA, Lee and Shepard Publishers.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Hilman, J. B. (1964). "Plants of the Caloosa Experimental Range " U.S. Forest Service Research Paper SE-12
- ↑ Thill, R. E. (1983). Deer and cattle forage selection on Louisiana pine-hardwood sites. New Orleans, LA, USDA Forest Service.
- ↑ Thill, R. E. (1984). "Deer and cattle diets on Louisiana pine-hardwood sites." The Journal of Wildlife Management 48(3): 788-798.
