Ludwigia hirtella

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Ludwigia hirtella
Ludw hirt.jpg
Photo by Karan A. Rawlins, University of Georgia, Bugwood.org
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Myrtales
Family: Onagraceae
Genus: Ludwigia
Species: L. hirtella
Binomial name
Ludwigia hirtella
Raf.
LUDW HIRT dist.jpg
Natural range of Ludwigia hirtella from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: spindleroot, Rafinesque's seedbox[1]

Taxonomic notes

Synonyms: none[1]

Varieties: none[1]

Description

“Repent or erect, usually branched, short-lived perennials, or rarely annual. Floral parts in 4-7’s; hypanthium not prolonged beyond the ovary. Capsules longitudinally or poricidally multiseriate, rarely uniseriate. Most of the erect species produce basal offshoots, which have ovate to obovate leaves, in the late summer and fall. Bracteoles occur in pairs on the pedicel or stipe or on the base of the hypanthium.”[2]

"Stems erect, strict or branched, densely pubescent, to 1m tall; roots fusiform. Leaves alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, pubescent, to 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide; sessile. Sepals 4, reflexed, ovate, pubescent, 6.5-9 mm long, 3-4 mm wide; petals 4, 7-15 mm long, 5-12 mm wide; styles 1.5-3 mm long, stylopodium prominent. Capsules cubical, 4-angled, usually narrowly winged, appressed pubescent, 6-10 mm long, 4-5.7 mm broad; bracteoles linear, 2-4 mm long; pedicels to 15 mm long.”[2]

Distribution

L. hirtella ranges from southern New Jersey to the Florida Panhandle, west to eastern Texas, and north to Kentucky, central Tennessee, Arizona, and southeastern Oklahoma.[1]

Ecology

Habitat

This species can be found in wet or dry sandy loam of open areas in wiregrass-longleaf pinewoods, low moist depressions, pine-saw palmetto flatwoods, bogs, floodplain woodland clearings and wet thickets.[3] It has also been observed to occur in human disturbed areas such as along roadsides, edges of pine plantations, ditches, gas pipeline right-of-ways, and power line corridors.[3] Associated species include Ludwigia alternifolia, L. glandulosa, L. linearis, L. pilosa, Pinus palutris, Serenoa repens, Cyrilla, Hypericum, Rhexia, Sabatia, Rhynchospora, Panicum, Macranthera, Bigelowia, Xyris, and Platanthera ciliaris.[3]

Phenology

This species flowers from July through September.[3][4]

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

Cultural use

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Weakley, A.S. 2020. Flora of the Southeastern United States. Edition of 20 October 2020. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  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. 744-7. Print.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: P. Adams, Loran C. Anderson, R. F. Doren, D. L. Fichtner, Robert K. Godfrey, Gary R. Knight, R. Kral, Karen MacClendon, Travis MacClendon, and R. A. Norris. States and Counties: Florida: Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Jackson, Leon, Liberty, Nassau, Okaloosa, and Walton. Georgia: Calhoun and Thomas. Texas: Hardin.
  4. 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: 19 MAY 2021