Corema conradii

Last updated

Corema conradii
Corema conradii.jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Corema
Species:
C. conradii
Binomial name
Corema conradii
(Torr.) Torr. ex Loudon
Synonyms [2]
  • Colema arenaria Raf.
  • Empetrum conradii Torr.
  • Endammia ericoides Raf.

Corema conradii is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name broom crowberry. It is native to eastern North America, where it has a disjunct distribution, occurring intermittently from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts, in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York, and in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. [3] Studies indicate that the plant might be a hybrid between ancestral populations of Corema album and Ceratiola . [4]

Contents

Description

This plant, one of only two species in genus Corema , [3] is a small perennial [5] shrub or subshrub. It branches to about 60 centimeters in maximum height. [6] It is shorter in stature in the southern part of its range, and sometimes takes a cushionlike form. It may grow colonially, forming a dense stand of up to 100% ground-cover. [1] It has gray or reddish orange, shreddy bark. The yellow-green leaves are linear in shape and needlelike. They are up to 6 millimeters long but less than a millimeter wide. The herbage is aromatic. The species is dioecious, with male and female reproductive parts occurring on separate individuals. The tiny sepals are reddish or purplish. [6] Flowering generally starts in March. [1] The fruit is a gray drupe under two millimeters wide. [6]

Ecology

This plant grows on the coastal plain, often on very sandy soils. [3] In Maine, it is associated with Empetrum nigrum , Pinus rigida , and small oaks. In Massachusetts, it can be found with P. rigida, Betula populifolia , Vaccinium vacillans , and Comptonia peregrina . It is a dominant species on Nantucket and Cape Cod, forming a heathland. [1] It is a fire-adapted species, [7] growing in openings in the forest which are created by fire burning away the canopy. It is adapted to disturbance and grows on disturbed soils and recent burns. It grows on pine barrens, which have a regime of frequent fires. High levels of seedling recruitment are experienced in areas recently burned. [1] [7] In June 2001, an F-16 practicing bombing at the Warren Grove, New Jersey range missed its target and started a fire [8] that burned patches of C. conradii where no seedlings had been seen since observations began in 1996. After the fire, which killed the adult plants, many seedlings emerged over the next two years; unburned C. conradii stands nearby did not develop seedlings. [7] Areas in Nantucket which have been grazed heavily, burned, and exposed to harsh conditions have wide stands of the plant. It may act as a pioneer species, taking hold on recently cleared soil. The fruits are collected by the ant species Aphaenogaster rudis , which may aid in seed dispersal. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Picea mariana</i> North American species of spruce tree

Picea mariana, the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and is that province's most numerous tree. The range of the black spruce extends into northern parts of the United States: in Alaska, the Great Lakes region, and the upper Northeast. It is a frequent part of the biome known as taiga or boreal forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longleaf pine</span> Species of plant (tree)

The longleaf pine is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as "yellow pine" or "long leaf yellow pine", although it is properly just one out of a number of species termed yellow pine. It reaches a height of 30–35 m (98–115 ft) and a diameter of 0.7 m (28 in). In the past, before extensive logging, they reportedly grew to 47 m (154 ft) with a diameter of 1.2 m (47 in). The tree is a cultural symbol of the Southern United States, being the official state tree of Alabama. Contrary to popular belief, this particular species of pine is not officially the state tree of North Carolina.

<i>Pinus rigida</i> Species of pine tree

Pinus rigida, the pitch pine, is a small-to-medium-sized pine. It is native to eastern North America, primarily from central Maine south to Georgia and as far west as Kentucky. It is found in environments which other species would find unsuitable for growth, such as acidic, sandy, and low-nutrient soils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack pine</span> Species of tree

Jack pine, also known as grey pine or scrub pine, is a North American pine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic coastal pine barrens</span> Temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of Northeast United States

The Atlantic coastal pine barrens is a now rare temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the Northeast United States distinguished by unique species and topographical features, generally nutrient-poor, often acidic soils and a pine tree distribution once controlled by frequent fires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine barrens</span> Type of ecoregion or plant community

Pine barrens, pine plains, sand plains, or pineland areas occur throughout the U.S. from Florida to Maine as well as the Midwest, West, and Canada and parts of Eurasia. Perhaps the most well known pine-barrens area to North Americans is the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Pine barrens are generally pine forests in otherwise "barren" and agriculturally challenging areas. Such pine forests often occur on dry, acidic, infertile soils, and also include grasses, forbs, and low shrubs. The most extensive pine barrens occur in large areas of sandy glacial deposits, lakebeds, and outwash terraces along rivers.

<i>Adenostoma fasciculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Adenostoma fasciculatum, commonly known as chamise or greasewood, is a flowering plant native to California and Baja California. This shrub is one of the most widespread plants of the California chaparral ecoregion. Chamise produces a specialized lignotuber underground and at the base of the stem, known as a burl, that allow it to resprout after fire has off burned its stems. It is noted for its greasy, resinous foliage, and its status as one of California's most iconic chaparral shrubs.

<i>Coleogyne</i> Genus of flowering plants

Coleogyne ramosissima or blackbrush, is a low lying, dark grayish-green, aromatic, spiny, perennial, soft wooded shrub, native to the deserts of the southwestern United States. It is called blackbrush because the gray branches darken when wet by rains. It is in the rose family (Rosaceae), and is the only species in the monotypic genus Coleogyne.

<i>Quercus ilicifolia</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus ilicifolia, commonly known as bear oak or scrub oak, is a small shrubby oak native to the Eastern United States and, less commonly, in southeastern Canada. Its range in the United States extends from Maine to North Carolina, with reports of a few populations north of the international frontier in Ontario. The name ilicifolia means "holly-leaved."

<i>Prunus geniculata</i> Species of tree

Prunus geniculata is a rare species of plum known by the common name scrub plum. The species is endemic to Florida.

<i>Rhynchospora knieskernii</i> Species of grass-like plant

Rhynchospora knieskernii is a rare species of sedge known by the common name Knieskern's beaksedge. It is endemic to the state of New Jersey in the United States, where it occurs naturallyin the Pine Barrens. Reports have cited it present in Delaware as well, but these populations appear to have been introduced. It is threatened by the destruction and degradation of its habitat. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

<i>Artemisia rigida</i> Species of flowering plant

Artemisia rigida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names scabland sagebrush and stiff sagebrush. It is native to the northwestern United States, in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. It has been recorded in western Montana but these sightings may have been misidentifications.

<i>Gaylussacia frondosa</i> Berry and plant

Gaylussacia frondosa is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names dangleberry and blue huckleberry. It is native to the eastern United States, where it occurs from New Hampshire to South Carolina.

<i>Hudsonia ericoides</i> Species of flowering plants in the rock rose family Cistaceae

Hudsonia ericoides is a species of flowering plant in the rock-rose family known by the common names pine barren goldenheather, false heather, and golden-heather. It is native to eastern North America, where its distribution extends down the east coast from Newfoundland to Delaware, with a disjunct population in South Carolina.

<i>Smilax laurifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Smilax laurifolia is a species of flowering plant in the greenbrier family known by the common names laurel greenbrier, laurelleaf greenbrier, bamboo vine, and blaspheme vine. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs along the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains from Texas to New Jersey, the range extending inland to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. It also occurs in Cuba and the Bahamas.

<i>Vaccinium pallidum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium pallidum is a species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common names hillside blueberry, Blue Ridge blueberry, late lowbush blueberry, and early lowbush blueberry. It is native to central Canada (Ontario) and the central and eastern United States plus the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas, southeastern Kansas and eastern Oklahoma.

<i>Carex barrattii</i> Species of sedge

Carex barrattii is a species of sedge known as Barratt's sedge. It is endemic to the United States, where it occurs on the Atlantic Coastal Plain from Connecticut south to Georgia and Alabama. It also occurs in the southern Appalachians.

<i>Corema</i> Genus of flowering plants

Corema is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. They are dioecious small shrubs.

<i>Hilaria rigida</i> Species of grass

Hilaria rigida is a species of clumping perennial grass that is widespread in California deserts. It is commonly known as big galleta. It is a monocot in the Hilaria genus of the grass family (Poaceae).

<i>Corema album</i> Species of flowering plant

Corema album, the Portuguese crowberry ; Spanish: camarina, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, Aquitaine, and the Azores (sub-species), where it may also be considered a different species. Its white berries are known to have been consumed by people in the Iberian Peninsula at least since the Middle-Ages. The only other species of the same genus is Corema conradii, found in North America.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Corema conradii. The Nature Conservancy.
  2. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
  3. 1 2 3 Corema conradii. Archived 2011-10-26 at the Wayback Machine Center for Plant Conservation.
  4. de Oliveira, Dale, Pedro Brás, Adam. "Corema album (L.) D. Don, the white crowberry – a new crop". IOS Press . Retrieved 1 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin". www.wildflower.org. Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  6. 1 2 3 Corema conradii. Flora of North America.
  7. 1 2 3 Martine, C. T., et al. (2005). The biology of Corema conradii: Natural history, reproduction, and observations of a post-fire seedling recruitment. Northeastern Naturalist 12(3) 267-86.
  8. "Tensions smolder between military, neighbors". Associated Press. 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2012-02-25.