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Plant Profile

Scrub Buckwheat (Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium)

Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium flowers Photo Credit: Cindy Campbell

Global Rank: T3 - Vulnerable
Legal Status: Federally Threatened
Family: Polygonaceae
State: FL
Nature Serve ID: 153727
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection:

Description:

Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium has a stem (up to 1 meter) that grows from a deep, stout, woody taproot. A rosette is formed by the basal leaves and the stem terminates in a flowering panicle The leaves are alternate with the blades relatively narrow. They are green above and densely white beneath. The inflorescence consists of minute bracts, narrow sepals, and is involute with glabrous filaments (Small, 1933). The involucre and flowers are silvery, silky-pubescent. E. tomentosum is the only other related species located in Florida and the two species can be found in the same sites. The former has leafy bracts in its inflorescences, and its cauline leaves are opposite making it quite distinctive from E. longifolium var. gnaphalifolium (Ward 1979, Wunderlin 1982, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993).

Where is Scrub Buckwheat (Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Sandhill, oak-hickory scrub on yellow sands, high pineland between scrub and sandhill, turkey oak barrens (FNAI 2000) with no or shallow litter cover (Menges and Quintana-Ascencio 2002).

Distribution:

Endemic to Marion, Lake, Sumter, Osceola, Polk, and Highlands counties in Florida. Historically it occurred near Eustis in Lake County and still occurs near Clermont in remnants of high pine with Pol

States & Provinces:

Scrub Buckwheat can be found in Florida

Which CPC Partners conserve Scrub Buckwheat (Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphalifolium)?

Bok Tower Gardens

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Tina Stanley

05/11/2023

According to a March 2023 extract of the Florida Plant Rescue Database, Bok Tower Gardens holds 3 accessions of Eriogonum longifolium var. gnaphthalifolium totalling approximately 1922 seeds.

09/10/2020

Seed Germination (Archbold Biological Station, Bok Tower Gardens) Transplantation (Bok Tower Gardens)

09/10/2020

Effects of different fire frequencies on population demography (Archbold Biological Station).

09/10/2020

Seed Germination (Archbold Biological Station, Bok Tower Gardens) Transplantation (Bok Tower Gardens)

09/10/2020

Pollination (Archbold Biological Station) Effects of different fire frequencies on population demography (Archbold Biological Station) Seed Germination (Archbold Biological Station, Bok Tower Gardens) Transplantation (Bok Tower Gardens)

09/10/2020

Over the long term, a population viability analysis by Satterthwaite et al. (2002) shows that scrub buckwheat populations require fire at intervals of 5 to 20 years to remain viable.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

A Florida endemic with a restricted habitat that is threatened by development. The Florida Natural Areas Inventory's database currently contains 83 occurrence records, located in Marion, Lake, Sumter, Osceola, Polk, and Highlands counties, Florida. Many of the occurrences are located with the Ocala National Forest, Florida.

Cindy Campbell

01/01/2010

Development or conversion of native habitat for agricultural, residential commercial, and recreational purposes. Fire suppression. Inadequate or wrongly-timed fire. Use of herbicides in forestry or road right-of-way maintenance Invasive species s

Cindy Campbell

01/01/2010

The Florida Natural Areas Inventorys database currently contains 83 occurrence records. Many are located in the Ocala National Forest.

Cindy Campbell

01/01/2010

Cindy Campbell

01/01/2010

Populations are not being specifically managed anywhere, but several of the protected sites have ongoing controlled burning programs (NatureServe).

Cindy Campbell

01/01/2010

Determine the effects of different habitat management techniques on populations (e.g. burning, rollerchopping, vegetative thinning) and develop management guidelines Determine optimal fire frequency Long-term monitoring of additional representative populations is needed to quantify population trends and responses to management procedures (e.g. burning, timber management) Determine the genetic variability among and within the populations Conduct demographic studies to determine population stability, increase, and decline Seed and reproductive biology should be studied in more detail Determine current distribution of E. longifolium var. gnaphalifolium

Cindy Campbell

01/01/2010

Collect seeds from each population in the wild and bring into cultivation at Bok Tower Gardens for reintroduction in the event of native population destruction and for research purposes Collect seeds periodically from native populations to establish populations for study and as seed sources for reintroductions Accession and store seed with the National Seed Storage Lab Genetic studies Seed studies Develop optimal propagation protocols for both seed and vegetative reproduction