Agalinis auriculata

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Agalinis auriculata
Agalinis auriculata drawing.png
Botanical illustration
Status TNC G3.svg
Vulnerable  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Orobanchaceae
Genus: Agalinis
Species:
A. auriculata
Binomial name
Agalinis auriculata

Agalinis auriculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known as earleaf false foxglove, auriculate false foxglove, and earleaf gerardia. It is endemic to the United States, where it occurs from New Jersey west to Minnesota and throughout most southern states. [2] [3]

Contents

Description and ecology

This plant is a hairy annual herb producing a stiff stem up to 90 cm (35 in) tall. The leaves are arranged oppositely on the stem, and the stems have retrorse-hispid hairs and auricled leaves. [4] The purple, five-cleft flowers have two smaller upper lobes which are more united than the three lower ones. [4] The flowers have purple-spotted throats and they bloom in July and September. [1] Today this plant is considered to be vulnerable. Because of this research is being conducted by the Center of Biodiversity focusing on the genetic diversity and disturbances of the Agalinis auriculata to figure more about its distribution and habitats. [5]

The plant is hemiparasitic, meaning it contains chlorophyll to accomplish photosynthesis, but is also parasitic on other plants to obtain some nutrients. In cultivation the plant was able to parasitize Helianthus occidentalis (western sunflower) and Rudbeckia fulgida (showy black-eyed Susan) and it was observed to connect to a grass, possibly Poa compressa (Kentucky bluegrass), in the field. [2]

Distribution and habitat

This plant has a wide geographical distribution and it was formerly more common than it is today. It appears to require soil disturbance for seed germination. In the past, this disturbance may have been caused by herds of bison. The plant can colonize mounds of earth that have been turned over by pocket gophers (Geomys bursarius). [2]

There are 40 to 50 known occurrences today, mostly comprising small populations. The largest populations are in Arkansas, Missouri, and Mississippi. [2] It is an endangered species in Minnesota where historical records report that it was found growing in wet meadows in the lower Mississippi valley but much of its natural habitat has been destroyed especially around the Twin Cities. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Helianthus</i> Genus of flowering plants, the sunflowers

Helianthus is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of Helianthus are native to North America and Central America. The best-known species is the common sunflower. This and other species, notably Jerusalem artichoke, are cultivated in temperate regions and some tropical regions, as food crops for humans, cattle, and poultry, and as ornamental plants. The species H. annuus typically grows during the summer and into early fall, with the peak growth season being mid-summer.

<i>Echinacea laevigata</i> Species of flowering plant

Echinacea laevigata, the smooth purple coneflower, is an Endangered Species Act federally listed endangered species of plant found in the piedmont of the eastern United States. Most populations are found on roadsides and other open areas with plenty of sunlight, often on calcium- and magnesium- rich soils.

<i>Asimina tetramera</i> Species of tree

Asimina tetramera, commonly known as the four-petal pawpaw, is a rare species of small tree or perennial shrub endemic to Martin and Palm Beach Counties in the state of Florida. The species is currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act and as endangered by the International Union for Conservation. The four-petal pawpaw is part of the Annonaceae family alongside other Asimina species.

<i>Agalinis</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the broomrape family

Agalinis is a genus of about 70 species in North, Central, and South America that until recently was aligned with members of the family Scrophulariaceae. As a result of numerous molecular phylogenetic studies based on various chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) loci, it was shown to be more closely related to members of the Orobanchaceae. Agalinis species are hemiparasitic, which is a character that in part describes the Orobanchaceae.

<i>Agalinis acuta</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis acuta is an annual hemiparasitic plant native to Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Long Island, New York. Common names include sandplain gerardia and sandplain false foxglove. It is one of about 70 species that comprise genus Agalinis. It currently resides within the family Orobanchaceae, but historically was aligned with members of the Scrophulariaceae. This was one of several re-alignments that were the consequence of the disintegration of the Scrophulariaceae as the result of conclusions based on molecular phylogeny data from the chloroplast genome. While historically regarded as a separate species, molecular phylogenetic data indicates that Agalinis acuta should be consolidated as part of the species Agalinis decemloba.

<i>Agalinis aspera</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis aspera, the rough agalinis, rough false foxglove, or tall false foxglove, is a non-poisonous plant of the genus Agalinis, habitating in the dry prairies. It can grow to be about eight to twenty-four inches tall. When the flowers bloom, the colors vary between purple and pink.

<i>Asclepias meadii</i> Species of flowering plant

Asclepias meadii is a rare species of milkweed known by the common name Mead's milkweed. It is native to the American Midwest, where it was probably once quite widespread in the tallgrass prairie. Today much of the Midwest has been fragmented and claimed for agriculture, and the remaining prairie habitat is degraded.

<i>Boltonia decurrens</i> Species of flowering plant

Boltonia decurrens is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names decurrent false aster and claspingleaf doll's daisy. It is native to the floodplains along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers in the United States, where the habitat has been drastically altered, leading to its decline. The plant was once distributed across 400 kilometers of riverside forest from LaSalle, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri. As the rivers and riparian habitat alongside them have been developed, the plant's distribution has been fragmented into about 20 separate populations, mostly in Illinois. At one point it was thought to have been extirpated from Missouri, but a few populations have been located near St. Louis since the mid-1980s. Despite having declined over time, several populations of the plant contain many thousands of individuals. Populations vary depending on the amount and duration of flooding that occurs in the area each year. The plant is a federally listed threatened species.

<i>Clematis socialis</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Clematis socialis is a rare species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Alabama leather flower. It is native to the US states of Alabama and Georgia, where it is known from only five populations. The species is seriously threatened by habitat destruction. It is a federally listed endangered species.

<i>Lespedeza leptostachya</i> Species of plant

Lespedeza leptostachya is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names prairie lespedeza and prairie bush-clover. It occurs in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The flowers are creamy-white to purplish and arranged into a narrow terminal spikes.

<i>Physaria filiformis</i> Species of plant

Physaria filiformis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Missouri bladderpod and limestone glade bladderpod. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas in the United States. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1987 and it was downlisted to threatened status in 2003. P. filiformis remains listed as an endangered species at the state level in Missouri.

<i>Agalinis skinneriana</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis skinneriana is a species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common names Skinner's gerardia, Skinner's false foxglove and pale false foxglove. It is native to North America, where it occurs in Ontario south to Missouri and Louisiana.

<i>Agalinis paupercula</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis paupercula, commonly known as the smallflower false foxglove, is a hemiparasitic annual plant native to the eastern parts of the United States and Canada. Found in open, moist areas, its purple flowers are borne on a 30-to-70-centimeter stem, and bloom in August and September. The species has often been treated as a variety of Agalinis purpurea, the purple false foxglove, and preliminary genetic evidence suggests that the two are, in fact, a single species.

<i>Aureolaria virginica</i> Species of plant

Aureolaria virginica, the downy yellow false foxglove or downy oak leach, is a perennial forb native to the eastern United States and Canada, which produces yellow flowers in summer.

<i>Agalinis purpurea</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis purpurea is an annual forb native to the eastern United States and Canada, which produces purple flowers in late summer or early fall.

<i>Agalinis tenuifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis tenuifolia, known by the common names common gerardia, slender false foxglove or common false foxglove, is an annual forb native to the eastern and southwestern United States, and Canada, which produces purple flowers in late summer or early fall.

<i>Agalinis gattingeri</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis gattingeri, the roundstem false foxglove, is an annual hemiparasitic forb measuring between 10.5 and 60.5 cm in height.

<i>Aureolaria pedicularia</i> Species of flowering plant

Aureolaria pedicularia, the fernleaf yellow false foxglove, fern-leaved false foxglove, or fernleaf false foxglove, is a parasitic plant of the family Orobanchaceae. Aureolaria pedicularia is native to parts of the eastern US, the Midwest, and adjacent Canada. This plant is known for its distinct leaf shape and overall plant size. The common names for Aureolaria pedicularia come from its fern-like leaves.

Rudbeckia auriculata(Perdue) Kral., commonly known as the eared coneflower, is a species of flowering plant in the Asteraceae Bercht. & J.Presl., native to acid bogs in the southeast United States.

<i>Agalinis edwardsiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Agalinis edwardsiana is a flowering plant species in the family Orobanchaceae family with the common name plateau agalinis.

References

  1. 1 2 Agalinis auriculata. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Agalinis auriculata. Archived October 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
  3. USDA Plants Profile
  4. 1 2 3 Barbara Coffin; Lee Pfannmuller (1988). Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna. U of Minnesota Press. p. 45. ISBN   978-0-8166-1689-3.
  5. Molano-Flores, B.; Koontz, J. A.; Feist, Mary Ann (2007). "Genetic Diversity of the Illinois-Threatened Agalinis auriculuta (Orobanchaceae)and the Two Common Congeners )". The American Midland Naturalist. 158 (2): 279–291. Retrieved 30 October 2021.