Trichostema dichotomum

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Trichostema dichotomum
Trichostema dichotomum Gil.jpg
Photo taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae ⁄ Labiatae
Genus: Trichostema
Species: T. dichotomum
Binomial name
Trichostema dichotomum
L.
TRIC DICH dist.jpg.jpg
Natural range of Trichostema dichotomum from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: forked bluecurls

Taxonomic notes

Description

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida and Georgia, T. dichotomum has been found in burned upland pinewoods; longleaf pine forests; annually burned pine savannas; loamy sand of woodlands; loamy sand of open pine-hickory woods; floodplain forests; sandy loam along bluffs; amidst cypress knees on the shores of lakes and ponds; sandy ridges; burned pond pine shrub bog flatwoods; longleaf pine-turkey oak sand ridges; and at the edges of an open limestone glade (FSU Herbarium). It has been recorded in disturbed habitats such as roadsides; deciduous flatwoods clearings; and a mowed meadow. Associated species include Vaccinium stamineum, Trichostema setaceum, Scoparia, Panicum, Andropogon gerardii, Angelica dentata, and Helianthus radula (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

Seed dispersal

Seed bank and germination

High light intensities and large diurnal temperature fluctuations as a result of the tortoise mounds are probably favorable for the establishment of T. dichotomum (Bazzaz 1979 cited by Kaczor and Hartnett 1990).

Fire ecology

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Trichostema dichotomum at Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):

Halictidae: Lasioglossum placidensis

Use by animals

It was found to be one of the most common spring recruits on recently abandoned tortoise mounds (Kaczor and Hartnett 1990). Deyrup (2012) observed the bees, Caupolicana electa and Dialictus placidensis, on T. dichotomum.

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

BAZZAZ, F. A. 1979. The physiological ecology of plant succession. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 10:351- 371.

Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.

Deyrup, M. and L. Deyrup (2012). "The diversity of insects visiting flowers of saw palmetto (Arecaceae)." Florida Entomologist 95(3): 711-730.

Kaczor, S. A. and D. C. Hartnett (1990). "Gopher tortoise (gopherus polyphemus) effects on soils and vegetation in a Florida sandhill." American Midland Naturalist 123: 100-111.