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Plant Profile

Florida Prairie-clover (Dalea carthagenensis var. floridana)

Dalea carthagenensis var. floridana flowering in a Miami-Dade County preserve. Photo Credit: S. Wright

Global Rank: T1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Fabaceae
State: FL
Nature Serve ID: 142674
Lifeform: Shrub
Date Inducted in National Collection: 08/23/2022

Description:

Florida prairie-clover is a suffrutescent (having a stem that is woody only at the base; somewhat shrubby) shrub 3-6 feet (0.5-2.0 meters [m]) tall (Bradley and Gann 1999, p. 42; Chafin 2000, NA). Bradley and Gann (1999, p. 42) described it as follows: Leaflets 15-23, ovate to elliptic, 5-14 mm [millimeters] long, glandular punctuate beneath; spikes subcaptitate to shortly oblong, 0.5-1.5 (-2) cm long, pubescent; peduncles opposite the leaves, terminal or appearing axillary, 1-3.5 cm [centimeters] long; bracts shorter than calyx; calyx 5-7 mm long, subequal and exceeding the tube, plumose; corolla subpapilionaceous, initially greenish white, turning maroon or dull purple, 4-5 mm long; stamens 9-10 (Adapted from Isely 1990).

Where is Florida Prairie-clover (Dalea carthagenensis var. floridana) located in the wild?

Habitat:

This shrub is found in pine rocklands, edges of rockland hammocks, coastal uplands, and marl prairie (Chafin 2000, NA). Bradley and Gann (1999, p. 42) stated, Fire is probably very important to the livelihood of this taxon. Plants probably do not tolerate shading by hardwoods in the absence of periodic fires. Two of the extirpated occurrences were reported from rockland hammocks (Castellow and Cox Hammocks). Plants probably occurred at the edges of these hammocks. At least one of the Palm Beach collections was made in some type of coastal upland.In 1999, each of the five occurrences known at that time were located in slightly different habitat types: disturbed pine rockland, pine rockland / rockland hammock ecotone, pine rockland / rockland hammock ecotone along road edges, edge of roadside in marl prairie, and ecotone between rockland hammock and marl prairie and flatwoods (Bradley and Gann 1999, p. 43). In 2007, Jimi Sadle (NPS, pers. comm. 2007) characterized one occurrence in Big Cypress National Preserve (BCNP) at an ecotone between pineland and hammock. Florida prairie-clover occurs in association with south Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa), live oak (Quercus virginiana), gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba), poisonwood (Metopium toxiferum), willow bustic (Sideroxylon celastrinum), white stopper (Eugenia axillaris), bluestem grasses (Schizachyrium spp.), and paspalum grasses (Paspalum spp.) (Bradley and Gann 1999, p. 43).

Distribution:

D. carthagenensis var. floridana was historically known from Miami-Dade, Collier, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties. Collections were made in Palm Beach County at an unknown location near Palm Beach by

States & Provinces:

Florida Prairie-clover can be found in Florida

Which CPC Partners conserve Florida Prairie-clover (Dalea carthagenensis var. floridana)?

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

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, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden holds 5 accessions of Dalea floridana totalling approximately 1519 seeds representing 31 maternal lines.

09/08/2020

an experimental seed reintroduction conducted by Fairchild (2009). demography study at Crandon Park

09/08/2020

an experimental seed reintroduction conducted by Fairchild (2009). demography study at Crandon Park

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Restricted to southern Florida. Fewer than ten populations extant and several extirpated. Most of its habitat has been degraded or destroyed. Threatened by fire suppression, invasive non-native plants and an introduced pest scale. Populations mostly very small.

Devon Powell and Samuel Wright

01/01/2010

Damage to plants from off-road vehicles Vulnerability to natural disturbances Invasive plant species Due to its restricted range and the small sizes of most isolated occurrences, this species is vulnerable to environmental (catastrophic hurricanes)

Devon Powell and Samuel Wright

01/01/2010

8 populations; 700-1050 individuals

Devon Powell and Samuel Wright

01/01/2010

an experimental seed reintroduction conducted by Fairchild (2009). demography study at Crandon Park