|
 |
| Photo
by Renee Brecht |
Britton and Brown. See
credits below. |
| Botanical name: |
Schwalbea americana |
| Common
name: |
American
chaffseed |
| Synonomy |
| Schwalbea americana
L. var. australis (Pennell) Reveal & Broome |
|
Schwalbea australis
Pennell
|
|
| Group: |
Dicot |
| Family: |
Scrophulariaceae |
| Growth
Type: |
Forb/herb |
| Duration: |
Perennial |
| Plant
height: |
1'-2'
|
| Flower
color: |
reddish-purplish with yellow |
| Flower
size: |
1 to 1-1/2 inches long
|
| Flowering/fruiting time |
early June-early July
|
| Habitat: |
sandy (sandy peat, sandy loam),
acidic, seasonally moist to dry soils. It is generally found in
habitats described as open, moist pine flatwoods, fire-maintained
savannas, ecotonal areas between peaty wetlands and xeric sandy soils,
and other open grass-sedge
system
s.
|
| Range in
New Jersey: |
One known location within the Pine
Barrens.
|
| Heritage ranking if any: |
S1, State Endangered, Federally
Endangered, Globally threatened, listed Pinelands
|
| Misc.: |
USDA
lists as facultative upland: Usually occurs in non-wetlands (estimated
probability 67%-99%), but occasionally found on wetlands (estimated
probability 1%-33%).
U.S. F&W Species
Account: "American chaffseed is an erect perennial herb with
unbranched stems (or
stems branched only at the base) with large, purplish-yellow, tubular
flowers that are borne singly on short stalks in the axils of the
uppermost, reduced leaves (bracts). The leaves are alternate,
lance-shaped to elliptic, stalkless, 2 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches)
long, and entire. The entire plant is densely, but minutely hairy
throughout, including the flowers. Flowering occurs from April to June
in the South, and from June to mid-July in the North. Chaffseed fruits
are long, narrow capsules enclosed in a sac-like structure that
provides the basis for the common name. Fruits mature from early summer
in the South to October in the North. Schwalbea is a
hemiparasite (partially dependent upon another plant as host). Like
most of the hemiparasitic Scrophulariaceae, it is not host-specific, so
its rarity is not due to its preference for a specialized host.
Although another species (S. australis) was once
recognized, the genus Schwalbea is now considered to be
monotypic."
A frequent fire regime is considered to be necessary for the survival of Schwalbea americana.
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| Sources |
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