Lechea minor

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Lechea minor
Lech mino.JPG
Photo by Shirley Denton (Copyrighted, use by photographer’s permission only), Nature Photography by Shirley Denton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Violales
Family: Cistaceae
Genus: Lechea
Species: L. minor
Binomial name
Lechea minor
L.
LECH MINO dist.jpg
Natural range of Lechea minor from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Thymeleaf pinweed

Taxonomic notes

Synonym: Lechea thymifolia Michaux

Description

This species can be frequent where it occurs. [1]

"Perennial herbs with tap roots and basal rosettes of procumbent, leafy stems late in the season; early stems erect, several from a crown, freely branched above, appressed or spreading pubescent. Leaves opposite, subopposite, whorled or subverticillate on lower part of stem, usually alternate above, usually short-petiolate; leaves of the winter rosettes usually whorled or subverticillate. Inflorescence of scroppoid cymes or racemes in a panicle or theyrse. Sepals 5, outer 2 linear, inner 3 elliptic to ovate; petals 3, reddish or maroon, usually shorter than the sepals; stamens mostly 5-15; stigmas 3, red, plumose. Capsule 1-3 seeded; seeds reddish brown or brown ca. 1 mm long." [2]

"Stems appressed pubescent, 2-7 dm tall with mostly spreading ascending branches; principal stems 1-2 mm in diam. Leaves oblong to elliptic, spreading to spreading-ascending, 6-12 mm long, 1-3 mm wide, glabrous above, ciliate, pubescent beneath mostly on the midrib and near the margins; leaf arrangement similar to no. , but opposite and whorled arrangement often higher into the inflorescence; petioles ca. 1 mm long. Inner sepals shorter than the capsule, 1-1.5 mm long, outer slightly longer. Capsule ellipsoid 1.2-1.7 mm long, 0.7-1 mm broad, 3-seeded." [2]

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

This species can be found in sandy soils in open fields, open bogs, and longleaf pine forests. [1] It also occurs in human disturbed areas such as powerline corridors and in old roadbeds. [1] Associated species include Longleaf pine and wiregrass. [1]

Seed dispersal

According to Kay Kirkman, a plant ecologist, this species disperses by being consumed by vertebrates (being assumed). [3]

Seed bank and germination

Several short-lived perennial forbs also have a seed bank persistent for at least several years.[4] Navarra found Lechea minor to have a high density in the seed bank. [5]

Fire ecology

Can grow in areas that are annually burned. [1]

Conservation and management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Robert K. Godfrey, Kevin Oakes, and R. Komarek. States and Counties: Florida: Leon and Franklin. Georgia: Baker, Grady, and Thomas.
  2. 2.0 2.1 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. 720-1. Print.
  3. Kay Kirkman, unpublished data, 2015.
  4. Platt, W. J., S. M. Carr, et al. (2006). "Pine savanna overstorey influences on ground-cover biodiversity." Applied Vegetation Science 9: 37-50.
  5. Navarra, J. J., N. Kohfeldt, et al. (2011). "Seed bank changes with time since fire in Florida rosemary scrub." Fire Ecology 7(2).