Palafoxia feayi

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Palafoxia feayi
Pala feay.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: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae ⁄ Compositae
Genus: Palafoxia
Species: P. feayi
Binomial name
Palafoxia feayi
A. Gray
Pala feay dist.jpg
Natural range of Palafoxia feayi from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: Feay's palafox

Taxonomic notes

The genus Palafoxia is named after Jose de Palafox y Melci a Spanish captian-general, well known in the Peninsular War. The species is named for William T. Feay, who was an avid plant collector in the southeast.[1]

Description

A description of Palafoxia feayi is provided in The Flora of North America.

Distribution

P. feayi is endemic to the southern two thirds of the Florida peninsula.[1]

Ecology

Habitat

P. feayi is restricted to the well drained sandy uplands of the southern two-thirds of the Florida peninsula.[1] Habitats include oak-palmetto-Lyonia scrubs, sand pine scrubs, and pine/palmetto scrubs. It has also been observed growing with Bigelowia nuttallii in sandbur-natal grass in an open sand pine remnant. Associated species include Bigelowia nuttallii, Serenoa repens, Pinus clausa, natalgrass, sandbur, and oak species. [2]

Phenology

Flowers July through December. [2]

Fire ecology

It has been observed growing in a burned scrub. [2]

Fire is important for maintaining the scrub habitat and occurs in intervals ranging 10-100 years, depending on the specific scrub. Above ground P. feayi individuals are killed by fire, however it quickly resprouts after fire. This species has adapted to fire by establishing seedlings between fires and resprouting postfire from the root system. Reproduction peaks during the first year post-fire and sharply declines after the first year (Ostertag and Menges 1994). Conrad and Segaves (2012) found a strong decrease in AMF colonization with time since fire, however, they propose that this is the result of an ephemeral nutrient pulse associated with scrub fires and changes in light availability. On the contrary to these findings, Anderson and Menges (1997) did not find a change in mycorrhizal colonization associated with fire.

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Palafoxia feayi at Archbold Biological Station: [3]

Apidae: Apis mellifera, Bombus impatiens

Colletidae: Colletes thysanellae

Halictidae: Agapostemon splendens, Augochlorella aurata, Augochloropsis sumptuosa, Halictus poeyi, Lasioglossum pectoralis, L. placidensis

Megachilidae: Anthidiellum perplexum, Coelioxys sayi, Megachile albitarsis, M. brevis pseudobrevis, M. georgica, M. inimica, M. mendica, M. petulans, M. policaris, M. texana, M. xylocopoides

Pompilidae: Episyron conterminus posterus

Sphecidae: Ammophila urnaria, Tachytes pepticus

Vespidae: Parancistrocerus perennis anacardivora, Zethus slossonae, Z. spinipes

Conservation and management

P. feayi is endemic to the scrubs of the Florida peninsula [1] and is found in habitats along the Lake Wales Ridge. This ridge is quickly converted into urban and agricultural areas. These disturbances have fragmented the scrub into a patchwork of small scrubs interspersed among urbanized patches.[4] Fire suppression also threatens the scrub habitats by allowing for encroachment of hardwoods.

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

Carrington, M. E. (1999). "Post-Fire Seedling Establishment in Florida Sand Pine Scrub." Journal of Vegetation Science 10(3): 403-412.

Conrad, A. O. and K. A. Segraves (2012). "Mycorrhizal colonization of Palafoxia feayi (Asteraceae) in a pyrogenic ecosystem." Mycorrhiza 23(3): 243-249.

Olano, J. M., E. S. Menges, et al. (2006). "Carbohydrate Storage in Five Resprouting Florida Scrub Plants across a Fire Chronosequence." The New Phytologist 170(1): 99-105.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 [[1]] Native Florida Wildflowers. Accessed: February 16, 2016
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: October 2015. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, D. Burch, George R. Cooley, R.J. Eaton, Robert K. Godfrey, R. Kral, Olga Lakela, S.W. Leonard, Victoria Sullivan, D.B. Ward. States and Counties: Florida: Brevard, Collier, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Manatee, Marion, Pinellas, Polk. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.
  3. Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.
  4. Sumoski, S. E., A. J. Johncox, et al. (2009). "Impact of Urbanization on Tri-Trophic Interactions in an Endemic Scrub Community." The Florida Entomologist 92(4): 582-587.