Lachnanthes caroliniana
| Lachnanthes caroliniana | |
|---|---|
| |
| Photo taken by Gil Nelson | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants |
| Class: | Liliopsida – Monocotyledons |
| Order: | Liliales |
| Family: | Haemodoraceae |
| Genus: | Lachnanthes |
| Species: | L. caroliniana |
| Binomial name | |
| Lachnanthes caroliniana (Lam.) Dandy | |
| |
| Natural range of Lachnanthes caroliniana from USDA NRCS Plants Database. | |
Common name: Carolina redroot
Contents
Taxonomic notes
Description
L. caroliniana is a perennial monocot with slender rhizomes and notable red roots. The flower stalk can reach up to three feet tall and has gray hairs along the top [1].
Distribution
It can be found in coastal environments from Louisiana to Florida and north to Massachusetts, with disjunct populations in Tennessee, Virginia, and southern Novia Scotia, and can also be found in Cuba [2].
Ecology
Habitat
Habitats are typically wet, acidic, nutrient poor areas such as mesic and wet flatwoods, wet prairies, and seasonally inundated shorelines [3]. It can commonly be found in disturbed areas such as trails, ditches, fire lanes, and has been observed by Jean Huffman to form dense stands following hog-rooting.
It can become a serious weed in cranberry bogs and newly established pastures [4][5].
Phenology
The white flowers are perfect and actinomorphic with a homoclamydeous imbricate perianth, 3 basifixed stamens, and an inferior, globose, slightly 3-lobed ovary (Simpson 1988) and arranged in a corymb[4]. The seed is a reddish 3 lobed capsule[3]. It can divide by rhizomes, tubers, corms and bulbs [6].
Seed dispersal
Seeds are dispersed locally by gravity [3].
Seed bank and germination
In the southern part of its range, it is capable of producing a substantial seed bank [3]. In an ex situ germination experiment in the marsh banks of southern Georgia, it was found that seedling germination was significantly increased by adding nitrogen plus phosphorus to a moist environment (Gerritsen and Greening 1989).
Fire ecology
It has been observed growing in a pond pine/titi peat swamp that was burned by a lightning set wildfire four months previously (FSU Herbarium). Hinman and Brewer (2007) observed L. caroliniana to have a reduction of flowering stalk density following a fire. This study also showed a significant decline between initial and pre-fire census and a significant increase between the immediate and second post-fire census.
Pollination
The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Lachnanthes caroliniana at Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):
Apidae: Apis mellifera, Bombus impatiens, B. pennsylvanicus, Mellisodes communis
Halictidae: Agapostemon splendens, Augochloropsis metallica, A. sumptuosa, Lasioglossum coreopsis, L. nelumbonis
Megachilidae: Anthidiellum perplexum, Anthidium maculifrons, Coelioxys mexicana, C. octodentata, C. sayi, Megachile albitarsis, M. brevis pseudobrevis, M. georgica, M. mendica, M. petulans, M. texana
Sphecidae: Philanthus ventilabris
Vespidae: Polistes bellicosus, P. fuscatus
Use by animals
L. caroliniana is an important food source to wigeons, gadwalls, pintails, sandhill cranes and mallards, which eat the seeds and rhizomes (Landers et al. 1976). This species contains photodynamic toxins that limit herbivory by insects and some vertebrates but not waterfowl (Kornfeld and Edwards 1972).
Diseases and parasites
Conservation and Management
Eutrophication from agriculture and urbanization has had a detrimental impact of Coastal Plain plant communities in Long Island and New Jersey (Zaremba and Lamont 1993).
In Nova Scotia, it is listed as a threatened species [2].
Cultivation and restoration
Historically, it was used by Native Americans as a narcotic and to treat ailments (Millspaugh 1887).
Photo Gallery
Lachnanthes caroliana Photo by Michelle Smith
Pensacola, FL.
References and notes
Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.
George, B. L. and E. S. Menges (1999). "Dynamics of Woody Bayhead Invasion into Seasonal Ponds in South Central Florida." Castanea 64(2): 130-137.
Gerritsen, J. and H.S. Greening. 1989. Marsh Seed Banks of the Okefenokee Swamp: . Floristic Synthesis of North America (CD-ROM, Draft). Biota of North America Program, Chapel Hill, NC.
Hinman, S. E. and J. S. Brewer (2007). "Responses of Two Frequently-Burned Wet Pine Savannas to an Extended Period without Fire." The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 134(4): 512-526.
Kornfeld, J.M. and Edwards, J.M. 1972. Investigation of photodynamic pigments in extracts of Lachnanthes tinctoria. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta 286:88.
Landers, J. L., A. S. Johnson, et al. (1976). "Duck Foods in Managed Tidal Impoundments in South Carolina." The Journal of Wildlife Management 40(4): 721-728.
Millspaugh, C.F. 1887. American Medicinal Plants. Caxton Press of Sherman, Philadelphia.
Nichols, G.E. 1934. The influence of exposure to winter temperatures on seed germination in various native North American plants. Ecology 15:364-373.
Simpson, M. G. (1988). "Embryological Development of Lachnanthes caroliniana (Haemodoraceae)." American Journal of Botany 75(9): 1394-1408.
Zaremba, R.E. and E.E. Lamont. 1993. The status of the Coastal Plain Pondshore community in New York. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 120:180-187.
- ↑ [[1]]Florida Department of Environmental Protection Accessed: January 9, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 [[2]]Accessed January 9, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 [[3]]COSEWIC Accessed: January 9, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 [[4]]Go Botany Accessed: January 10, 2016
- ↑ [[5]]University of Florida IFAS Extension Accessed: January 9, 2016
- ↑ [[6]] Dave's Garden. Accessed: January 10, 2016
