Difference between revisions of "Galactia volubilis"

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Common Name: downy milkpea
 
Common Name: downy milkpea
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This species is a climbing vine with twining behavior (FSU Herbarium).
  
 
==Distribution==
 
==Distribution==

Revision as of 09:54, 13 July 2015

Galactia volubilis
Insert.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae ⁄ Leguminosae
Genus: Galactia
Species: G. volubilis
Binomial name
Galactia volubilis
(L.) Britton
GALA VOLU dist.jpg
Natural range of Galactia volubilis from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Description

Common Name: downy milkpea

This species is a climbing vine with twining behavior (FSU Herbarium).

Distribution

“…occurring in sandy soils from New York to Florida westward to Tennessee and Texas.”[1]

Ecology

Habitat

This species is found in mixed hardwood forests, pinewoods, shrub and herb dominated communities, old fields, ravine dissected areas, dry pocosins, flatwoods, creek banks and savannahs (FSU Herbarium). It has been observed to grow in dry and moist sandy loam in open areas with full sunlight (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

“A lavender-flowered prostrate perennial herb frequently climbing over bushes...It is variable species and varietal forms have been described”[1]

Seed dispersal

Seed bank and germination

Fire ecology

The amount of G. volubilis decreased after a spring burn, summer burn, and in the control plot[2] “Results from previous studies[3] indicate that leguminous plants and seed respond best to “hot” f i r e s - - i . e., those in which a high proportion of the ground fuel is consumed. Laboratory tests[4] have also shown that seed from several leguminous species germinate best after scarification with moist heat at temperatures near 80” C., a situation requiring a hot fire. The response of the leguminous plants and seed in this study, therefore, would probably have been greater if the pine stands had been burned with more intense fires. Nevertheless, further work will be necessary before we can make final conclusions about the value of prescribed burning to quail and other wildlife in the 2.5 million acres of pine in the South Carolina Piedmont.”[2] G. volubilis had the greatest coverage on the January-burned plots in the loblolly-shortleaf pine communities of the Alabama upper coastal plain.[5] This species has also been found in areas that were excluded from fire (FSU Herbarium).

Pollination

Use by animals

Eastern mourning dove includes G. volubilis in its diet.[1]

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Graham, E. H. (1941). Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. Washington, USDA
  2. 2.0 2.1 Cushwa, C. T., M. Hopkins, et al. (1970). Response of legumes to prescribed burns in loblolly pine stands of the South Carolina Piedmont. Asheville, NC, USDA Forest Service, Research Note SE-140: 6.
  3. Cushwa, C. T., Czuhai, Eugene, Cooper, R. W., and Julian, W. H. 1969. Burning clearcut openings in Ioblolly pine to improve wildlife habitat. Ga. Forest Res. Count. Res. Pap. 61, 5 pp. Cushwa, C. T. and Redd, J. B. 1966. One prescribed burn and its effects on habitat of the Powhatan Game Management Area. Southeast. Forest Exp. %a., U. S. Forest Serv. Res. Note SE-61, 2 pp.
  4. Cushwa, C. T., Martin, R. E., and Miller, R. L. 1968. The effects of fire on seed germination. J. Range Manage. 21: 250-254. M a r t i n , R . E., a n d C u s h w a , C . T. 1966. Effects of heat and moisture on leguminous seed. Fifth Annu. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. Proc. 1966: 159-175.
  5. Moore, W. H. (1958). "Effects of certain prescribed fire treatments on the distribution of some herbaceous quail food plants in loblolly-shortleaf pine communities of the Alabama upper coastal plain." Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Game and Fish Commissioners 11: 349-351.