Pioneer species are hardy species which are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by fire. Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so may be among the first of life forms, and break down the rocks into soil for plants. Since some uncolonized land may have thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are often hardy plants with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and leaves that employ transpiration. Note that they are often photosynthetic plants, as no other source of energy except light energy is often available in the early stages of succession, thus making it less likely for a pioneer species to be non-photosynthetic. The plants that are often pioneer species also tend to be wind-pollinated rather than insect-pollinated, as insects are unlikely to be present in the usually barren conditions in which pioneer species grow; however, pioneer species tend to reproduce asexually altogether, as the extreme or barren conditions present make it more favourable to reproduce asexually in order to increase reproductive success rather than invest energy into sexual reproduction. Pioneer species will die creating plant litter, and break down as "leaf mold" after some time, making new soil for secondary succession, and nutrients for small fish and aquatic plants in adjacent bodies of water.
Erythranthe guttata, with the common names seep monkeyflower and common yellow monkeyflower, is a yellow bee-pollinated annual or perennial plant. It was formerly known as Mimulus guttatus.
Erythronium propullans, the Minnesota dwarf trout lily, Minnesota adder's tongue or Minnesota fawnlily, is a rare plant endemic to the Cannon River and North Fork Zumbro River watersheds in Rice County, Goodhue County and the extreme northern edge of Steele County, Minnesota, in the United States. The plants are believed to be a mutation or sport of the white trout lily and evolved following the most recent ice age.
Ammophila arenaria is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is known by the common names marram grass and European beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus Ammophila. It is native to the coastlines of Europe and North Africa where it grows in the sands of beach dunes. It is a perennial grass forming stiff, hardy clumps of erect stems up to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in height. It grows from a network of thick rhizomes which give it a sturdy anchor in its sand substrate and allow it to spread upward as sand accumulates. These rhizomes can grow laterally by 2 metres (7 feet) in six months. One clump can produce 100 new shoots annually.
Coastal Strand is a plant community of flowering plants that form along the shore in loose sand just above the high tide line.
The perennial flower Abronia latifolia or Abronia arenaria is a species of sand-verbena known commonly as the coastal, or yellow sand-verbena. It is native to the west coast of North America, from southern California to the Canada–United States border.
Abronia umbellata is a flowering annual plant which is native to western North America. Other common names include beach sand verbena and purple sand verbena.
Abronia villosa is a species of sand-verbena known by the common names desert sand-verbena and chaparral sand-verbena. It is in the four o'clock plant family (Nyctaginaceae). It is native to sandy areas in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, associated with creosote-bush and coastal-sage scrub habitats.
Abronia alpina is a rare species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family known by the common names Ramshaw Meadows sand verbena and Ramshaw Meadows abronia. It is endemic to Tulare County, California, where it is known from only one area high in the Sierra Nevada.
Abronia pogonantha is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family (Nyctaginaceae) known by the common name Mojave sand-verbena. It is native to California and Nevada, where it grows in the Mojave Desert, adjacent hills and mountains, and parts of the San Joaquin Valley in the Central Valley.
Abronia ameliae, commonly known as Amelia's sand verbena or heart's delight, is a species of flowering plant in the Four O'clock family, Nyctaginaceae, that is endemic to southern Texas in the United States. It inhabits grasslands in the deep sands of the Holocene sand sheet, which is part of the Tamaulipan mezquital. This species was named for Amelia Anderson Lundell, wife of Cyrus Longworth Lundell.
Abronia mellifera is a species of sand verbena known by the common name white sand verbena.
Abronia fragrans, the sweet sand-verbena, snowball sand-verbena, prairie snowball or fragrant verbena, is a species of sand verbena.
Blancoa is a monotypic genus of perennial herbs in the family Haemodoraceae; the single species is Blancoa canescens, commonly known as the winter bell. It is endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia. It has nodding red to pink flowers, a clumping habit and grows to be 10 to 40 cm in height. The genus is named in honour of Francisco Manuel Blanco, a Spanish friar and botanist who compiled the first comprehensive flora of the Philippines.
Arctomecon californica is a species of poppy known by several common names, including California bearpoppy, Las Vegas bearpoppy, golden bearpoppy, and yellow-flowered desert poppy.
Thalictrum fendleri is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Fendler's meadow-rue. It is named in honor of Augustus Fendler.
Thalictrum sparsiflorum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name fewflower meadow-rue. It is native to northwestern North America and parts of northeastern Asia. It grows in moist habitat, such as streambanks and forest understory. It is a perennial herb producing erect stems up to about a meter in maximum height. The leaves have compound blades divided into a few or many segments which are borne on long, slender petioles. The blades are usually finely hairy and glandular. The inflorescence is a leafy panicle of flowers. Unlike some other Thalictrum species which are dioecious, this species has bisexual flowers. Each has a calyx of five greenish sepals, and up to 20 light-colored dangling stamens tipped with large anthers. The flowers develop into compressed, beaked fruits.
Abronia macrocarpa is a rare species of flowering plant known by the common name largefruit sand verbena. It is endemic to eastern Texas, where its current range is limited to Freestone, Leon, and Robertson counties.. It inhabits harsh, open sand dunes on savannas, growing in deep, poor soils. It was first collected in 1968 and described as a new species in 1972. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Abronia, the sand-verbenas or wild lantanas, is a genus of about 20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the family Nyctaginaceae. Despite the common names, they are not related to Verbena (vervains) or lantanas in the family Verbenaceae. They are closely allied with Tripterocalyx.
Flowering synchrony is the amount of overlap between flowering periods of plants in their mating season compared to what would be expected to occur randomly under given environmental conditions. A population which is flowering synchronously has more plants flowering at the same time than would be expected to occur randomly. A population which is flowering asynchronously has fewer plants flowering at the same time than would be expected randomly. Flowering synchrony can describe synchrony of flowering periods within a year, across years, and across species in a community. There are fitness benefits and disadvantages to synchronized flowering, and it is a widespread phenomenon across pollination syndromes.
