Eryngium cuneifolium
Encyclopedia
Eryngium cuneifolium is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family
known by the common names wedgeleaf eryngo, wedge-leaved button-snakeroot, and simply snakeroot. It is endemic to the state of Florida
in the United States where it is known only from Highlands County. It is one of many rare species that can be found only on the Lake Wales Ridge
, an area of high endemism. It was federally listed as an endangered species
of the United States in 1987.
This is an erect perennial
herb
growing 20 to 66 centimeters in maximum height. The woody taproot
may be over 20 centimeters long. The distinctive leaves are wedge-shaped with usually three bristle-tipped teeth at the tips. The basal leaves are largest and there are a few smaller ones along the erect flowering stem. The herbage is aromatic. The inflorescence
is a compound umbel
of several dense headlike
clusters of flowers. Each individual flower has five sharp-pointed sepal
s, making the clusters bristly. The flowers have white, or possibly blue, or greenish flowers. Blooming occurs in July through January, but especially August through October.
This is a plant of the Florida scrub
. It grows in bare stretches of white sand, including gaps in the rosemary
and sand pine scrub and in blowouts
. The land is dry and the bare, sunny gaps in the scrub are maintained by periodic wildfire
. Other plants in the habitat include swampbay
(Persea palustris), scrub palmetto
(Sabal etonia), eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa), and several species of oak
.
There are 19 known occurrences of this plant, all within one Florida county. Eight are on protected land, such as the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife Area
. The other 11 are on private, unprotected land. Their status is not certain, but four of these occurrences are believed extirpated
or on the verge of destruction. Remaining stretches of Florida scrub such as that inhabited by the snakeroot are vulnerable to destruction. Much of it has been consumed for development and for agriculture
, especially citrus
groves. Habitat that remains is in a fragmented
condition. In many areas, including some of the protected regions, the land is not properly managed
to maintain the natural habitat. The Florida scrub is a fire-prone landscape and many of the plants require fire every few decades to thrive. This snakeroot, for example, requires periodic disturbance such as fire to clear out tall and woody vegetation that grows up around it and blocks the sun. The plant requires wide open habitat for survival, and plants located farther from other shrubs grow more successfully. Fire suppression, which is practiced to prevent property damage, prevents this disturbance and leads to overgrowth of the scrub.
This species also needs fire in order to germinate
, because excessive leaf litter and lichen
cover on the ground inhibit this process. The snakeroot population skyrockets after the scrub is burned, and its survival, growth, and fecundity
are increased. During fire, the plant is destroyed, but its soil seed bank
is exposed for germination, and many seedlings occur. The plant has a limited capacity for dispersal
, and most seeds end up in the ground near the parent plant. Germination also may be inhibited by the scrub rosemary, which produces allelopathic
compounds.
Apiaceae
The Apiaceae , commonly known as carrot or parsley family, is a group of mostly aromatic plants with hollow stems. The family is large, with more than 3,700 species spread across 434 genera, it is the sixteenth largest family of flowering plants...
known by the common names wedgeleaf eryngo, wedge-leaved button-snakeroot, and simply snakeroot. It is endemic to the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in the United States where it is known only from Highlands County. It is one of many rare species that can be found only on the Lake Wales Ridge
Lake Wales Ridge
The Lake Wales Ridge is a low ridge running for about 150 miles south to north in Central Florida. The greater part of the ridge is in Highlands County and Polk County, but it extends north into Osceola, Orange and Lake Counties. It is named for the city of Lake Wales, roughly at the mid point of...
, an area of high endemism. It was federally listed as an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
of the United States in 1987.
This is an erect perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herbaceous plant
A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...
growing 20 to 66 centimeters in maximum height. The woody taproot
Taproot
A taproot is an enlarged, somewhat straight to tapering plant root that grows vertically downward. It forms a center from which other roots sprout laterally.Plants with taproots are difficult to transplant...
may be over 20 centimeters long. The distinctive leaves are wedge-shaped with usually three bristle-tipped teeth at the tips. The basal leaves are largest and there are a few smaller ones along the erect flowering stem. The herbage is aromatic. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a compound umbel
Umbel
An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....
of several dense headlike
Pseudanthium
A pseudanthium or flower head is a special type of inflorescence, in which several flowers are grouped together to form a flower-like structure. The real flowers are generally small and greatly reduced, but can sometimes be quite large...
clusters of flowers. Each individual flower has five sharp-pointed sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s, making the clusters bristly. The flowers have white, or possibly blue, or greenish flowers. Blooming occurs in July through January, but especially August through October.
This is a plant of the Florida scrub
Florida scrub
Florida scrub is an endangered temperate coniferous forest ecoregion of the state of Florida in the United States. It is found on coastal and inland sand ridges and is characterized by a xeromorphic plant community dominated by shrubs and dwarf oaks. Scrub soils, a type of entisol, are derived...
. It grows in bare stretches of white sand, including gaps in the rosemary
Ceratiola ericoides
The Sandhill-rosemary, Florida-rosemary or Sand heath, Ceratiola ericoides, is a shrub usually included in the plant family Ericaceae, though treated by some botanists in the Empetraceae....
and sand pine scrub and in blowouts
Blowout (geology)
Blowouts are sandy depressions in a sand dune ecosystem caused by the removal of sediments by wind.Blowouts occur in partially vegetated dunefields or sandhills. A blowout forms when a patch of protective vegetation is lost, allowing strong winds to "blow out" sand and form a depression...
. The land is dry and the bare, sunny gaps in the scrub are maintained by periodic wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
. Other plants in the habitat include swampbay
Persea palustris
Persea palustris, commonly known as the swampbay, is a tree native to eastern North America, from Texas eastwards to Florida and then extending north to Delaware, mostly on the Gulf Coastal Plain and Atlantic Coastal Plain but extending into the Piedmont somewhat. Its range also includes the...
(Persea palustris), scrub palmetto
Sabal etonia
Sabal etonia, commonly known as the scrub palmetto is a species of palm which is endemic to Florida and southeast Georgia.-Description:...
(Sabal etonia), eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa), and several species of oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
.
There are 19 known occurrences of this plant, all within one Florida county. Eight are on protected land, such as the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife Area
Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge
The Lake Wales Ridge National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located in four separated areas on the Lake Wales Ridge east of US 27 between Davenport and Sebring Florida. The 1,194 acre refuge was established in 1990, to protect a host of plants and...
. The other 11 are on private, unprotected land. Their status is not certain, but four of these occurrences are believed extirpated
Local extinction
Local extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...
or on the verge of destruction. Remaining stretches of Florida scrub such as that inhabited by the snakeroot are vulnerable to destruction. Much of it has been consumed for development and for agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, especially citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
groves. Habitat that remains is in a fragmented
Habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...
condition. In many areas, including some of the protected regions, the land is not properly managed
Land management
Land management is the process of managing the use and development of land resources. Land resources are used for a variety of purposes which may include organic agriculture, reforestation, water resource management and eco-tourism projects.-See also:*Sustainable land management*Acreage...
to maintain the natural habitat. The Florida scrub is a fire-prone landscape and many of the plants require fire every few decades to thrive. This snakeroot, for example, requires periodic disturbance such as fire to clear out tall and woody vegetation that grows up around it and blocks the sun. The plant requires wide open habitat for survival, and plants located farther from other shrubs grow more successfully. Fire suppression, which is practiced to prevent property damage, prevents this disturbance and leads to overgrowth of the scrub.
This species also needs fire in order to germinate
Germination
Germination is the process in which a plant or fungus emerges from a seed or spore, respectively, and begins growth. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the...
, because excessive leaf litter and lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
cover on the ground inhibit this process. The snakeroot population skyrockets after the scrub is burned, and its survival, growth, and fecundity
Fecundity
Fecundity, derived from the word fecund, generally refers to the ability to reproduce. In demography, fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of an individual or population. In biology, the definition is more equivalent to fertility, or the actual reproductive rate of an organism or...
are increased. During fire, the plant is destroyed, but its soil seed bank
Soil Seed Bank
The soil seed bank refers to the natural storage of seeds, often dormant, within the soil of most ecosystems. The study of soil seed banks started in 1859 when Charles Darwin observed the emergence of seedlings using soil samples from the bottom of a lake. The first scientific paper on the subject...
is exposed for germination, and many seedlings occur. The plant has a limited capacity for dispersal
Seed dispersal
Seed dispersal is the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant...
, and most seeds end up in the ground near the parent plant. Germination also may be inhibited by the scrub rosemary, which produces allelopathic
Allelopathy
Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have beneficial or detrimental effects on the target organisms...
compounds.