Sisyrinchium xerophyllum

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Sisyrinchium xerophyllum
Sisy xero.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: Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Order: Liliales
Family: Iridaceae
Genus: Sisyrinchium
Species: S. xerophyllum
Binomial name
Sisyrinchium xerophyllum
Greene
Sisy xero dist.jpg
Natural range of Sisyrinchium xerophyllum from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common names: Jeweled blue-eyed grass, Florida Blue-eyed grass

Taxonomic notes

The specific epithet xerophyllum refers to the habitat this species grows in: well-drained sandy uplands.[1]

Description

A description of Sisyrinchium xerophyllum is provided in The Flora of North America.

Distribution

This species is endemic to Florida and southern Georgia.[1]

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida, S. xerophyllum occurs surrounding limestone glades with wiregrass, open barrens, scrub oak-wiregrass sand ridges, pine-turkey oak flats, and interdune swales. It has also can be found in disturbed areas such as sandy parking lots and roadsides. Soils include sandy loam, loamy sand, sand, and loam. It grows in shaded environments.

Associated species include Carex fissa, C. vexans, Chrysopsis linearifolia, Andropogon virginicus, Aristida stricta, Pteridium aquilinum var. subcaudatum, Smilax auriculata and Panicum virgatum.[2]

Sisyrinchium xerophyllum is an indicator species for the Peninsula Xeric Sandhills community type as described in Carr et al. (2010).[3]

Phenology

Flowers have six blue tepals, yellow bases and usually aristae tips. Flowers March[4] through November and fruits May through November.[2]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by gravity.[5]

Fire ecology

S. xerophyllum has been observed to be a weak resprouter after fire. It decreases in frequency and abundance post fire.[6]

Pollination and use by animals

Sisyrinchium xerophyllum has been observed at the Archbold Biological Station to host sweat bees such as Lasioglossum nymphalis and L. placidensis (family Halictidae), and leafcutting bees from the Megachilidae family such as Anthidiellum perplexum and Megachile brevis pseudobrevis.[7]

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

Cultural use

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 [[1]]Native Florida Wildflowers. Accessed: March 16, 2016
  2. 2.0 2.1 Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: November 2015. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Billy Bailey, Wilson Baker, J. Beckner, Robert K. Godfrey, Beverly Judd, Walter S. Judd, Ed Keppner, Lisa Keppner, Robert Kral, O. Lakela, Hugh O’Neill, Daniel B. Ward. States and Counties: Florida: Bay, Franklin, Highlands, Jackson, Leon, Marion, Marin, Polk, Wakulla, Walton. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.
  3. Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
  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
  5. Kirkman, L. Katherine. Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.
  6. Weekley, C. W. and E. S. Menges (2003). "Species and vegetation responses to prescribed fire in a long-unburned, endemic-rich Lake Wales Ridge scrub." Journal of the Torrey Botanical Club 130: 265-282.
  7. Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.