Difference between revisions of "Stillingia sylvatica"

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==Description==  
 
==Description==  
 
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Common name: queen's-delight
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==Distribution==
 
==Distribution==
 
==Ecology==
 
==Ecology==

Revision as of 10:22, 6 July 2015

Stillingia sylvatica
Stillingia sylvatica MMS.jpg
Photo taken by Michelle M. Smith
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Euphorbiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Stillingia
Species: S. sylvatica
Binomial name
Stillingia sylvatica
L.
STIL SYLV dist.jpg
Natural range of Stillingia sylvatica from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Description

Common name: queen's-delight

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

It can be found in sandhill communities (Stamp and Lucas 1990). Included in study where the area was a mixed stand of slash and longleaf pine where soils are mainly sandy, siliceous, hypothermic Ultic haplaquod of the Pomona series (Moore et al 1982).

Phenology

Seed dispersal

It is dispersed explosively (up to 3 meters); seeds are forcefully expelled after the fruit matures and dries. It can also be dispersed by ants (Stamp and Lucas 1990).

Seed bank and germination

Fire ecology

It seems to respond positively to burning. In an experiment by Greenberg, he noted that the percent cover of S. sylvatica was highest 16 months after a May burn (2003).

Pollination

Use by animals

Because S. sylvatica seeds contain elaiosomes, they are collected by ants (Stamp and Lucas 1990). “Seeds were found in middens of harvester-ant nests of Pogonomyremex badius Latreille. In addition, seeds of all three plant species were observed being carried into the ant nests and then later deposited uneaten at the nest perimeter.” – Stamp and Lucas 1990.

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  • Stamp, N. E. and J. R. Lucas. 1990. Spatial patterns and dispersal distances of explosively dispersing plants in Florida sandhill vegetation. Journal of Ecology 78:589-600.
  • Greenberg, C. H. 2003. Vegetation recovery and stand structure following a prescribed stand-replacement burn in sand pine scrub. Natural Areas Journal 23:141-151.
  • Moore, W. H., B. F. Swindel and W. S. Terry. 1982. Vegetative response to prescribed fire in a north Florida flatwoods forest. Journal of Range Management 35:386-389.