|
Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
|
|
Introductory
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
ABBREVIATION :
ANDCAB
SYNONYMS :
Andropogon ternarius Michx. var. cabanisii (Hack.) Fern. & Grisc. [14]
SCS PLANT CODE :
ANCA2
COMMON NAMES :
firegrass
cabanis
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of firegrass is Andropogon
cabanisii Hack. [4]. It is in the family Poaceae. There are no
currently accepted infrataxa.
LIFE FORM :
Graminoid
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Roberta A. Walsh, June 1994
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Walsh, Roberta A. 1994. Andropogon cabanisii. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Firegrass occurs in Florida [4,7,14].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES41 Wet grasslands
STATES :
FL
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
EVER
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K079 Palmetto prairie
K112 Southern mixed forest
K115 Sand pine scrub
K116 Subtropical pine forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
69 Sand pine
74 Cabbage palmetto
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
111 South Florida slash pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Plants associated with firegrass are listed for longleaf pine (Pinus
palustris)/slash pine (Pinus elliottii) sites in the Apalachicola
National Forest. Associates include gallberry (Ilex glabra), St.
Johns-wort (Hypericum fasciculatum), blackberry (Rubus spp), dwarf
huckleberry (Gaylussacia dumosa), wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera), smilax
(Smilax bona-nox), wiregrass (Aristida stricta), low panicums
(Dichanthelium spp.), broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus), Elliot
bluestem (Andropogon gyrans), grasslike goldaster (Pityopsis
graminifolia), goldenrod (Solidago spp.), aster (Aster spp.), pencil
flower (Stylosanthes biflora), and tephrosia (Tephrosia spp.) [12].
Firegrass and grass associates which made up the ground cover on
flatwoods in south-central Florida were as follows (greatest cover to
least): wiregrass (Aristida stricta), creeping bluestem
(Schizachyrium stoloniferum), panicum (Panicum spp.), paspalum (Paspalum
spp.), chalky bluestem (Andropogon capillipes), broomsedge bluestem (A.
virginicus), lopsided Indiangrass (Sorghastrum secundum), threeawn
(Aristida spiciformis), firegrass, and beaked panicum (Panicum anceps) [5].
Plants associated with firegrass on limestone rockland South Florida
slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) forests in southeastern Florida
include angadenia (Angadenia sagrae), small-flowered melanthera
(Melanthera parviflora), Curtiss jacquemontia (Jacquemontia curtissii),
crossopetalum (Crossopetalum ilicifolium), acalypha (Acalypha
chamaedrifolia), senna (Cassia deeringiana), crotalaria (Crotalaria
pumila), anemia (Anemia adiantifolia), coontie (Zamia pumila),
dyschoriste (Dyschoriste oblongifolia var. angusta), and phyllantus
(Phyllantus pentaphyllus) [10].
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
When the introduced Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) tree invades
southern Florida slash pine stands in rockland pine forest of extreme
southeastern Florida, it shades out the herbaceous understory flora,
including firegrass. Prescribed fire may be useful in controlling
Brazilian pepper [7].
Saw-palmetto (Serenoa repens) flatwoods in south-central Florida were
treated with herbicides in conjunction with burning to improve native
pastures, which included firegrass. Burning and 2,4,5-T application
decreased saw-palmetto cover and increased total grass cover from 29.4
percent to 67.5 percent over a 2- year period [5].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Firegrass is a native, perennial, cespitose graminoid [3]. Culms are
erect, 31 to 59 inches (80-150 cm) tall, and occur in small tufts. The
upper half of each culm bears long slender branches. The inflorescence
has two racemes and is 1.6 to 2.8 inches (4-7 cm) long [4]. Rachis
hairs make the inflorescence villous [14]. The lemma awn is 0.6 inches
(1.5 cm) long and twisted. The fruit is a caryopsis [4].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Firegrass sprouts from perennating buds at the base of the culms. It
also reproduces by seed [4].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Firegrass occurs in dry pine woods of Florida [4,7,10]. It also occurs
occasionally on sandhills and in sand pine (Pinus clausa) scrub of
central Florida [14]. It sometimes occurs in moist sites as well [12].
Firegrass in south-central Florida occurs on fine sand. Average annual
rainfall is about 55 inches (140 cm) a year, 75 percent of which falls
from May to October. Average temperatures from May to October are
maximum/minimum 90/64 degrees Fahrenheit (31.6/17.8 deg C) [5]. In
extreme southeastern Florida firegrass occurs on rough limestone
substrate with crevices and solution holes but very little soil
development [7,10]. Firegrass in Liberty County occurs on limestone
bedrock with surface soils derived from sand. It occurs on poorly
drained, somewhat poorly drained, and moderately to excessively
well-drained soils [12].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Firegrass in the Florida panhandle occurred in savanna vegetation, in
stands of thinned and unthinned longleaf pine forest, and in a natural
slash pine stand. The longleaf pine stands had trees up to 78 years old
and canopy cover of 41 to 49 percent. The slash pine stand had 58
percent canopy cover. There was no midstory in either forest type [12].
In slash pine forests on limestone rockland in extreme southeastern
Florida, firegrass and other herbaceous, light-requiring understory flora
are eliminated when shaded by native tropical hardwood trees [7].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Firegrass flowers in the fall in central Florida [14].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Firegrass sprouts from basal buds after aerial portions are burned [10].
If thick tufts form [4], they may protect the basal buds from fire
damage.
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tussock graminoid
Secondary colonizer - on-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Firegrass culms are killed by fire [10].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Firegrass responds to fire with rapid growth and increased flowering [9,10].
Firegrass in the rockland pine vegetation of South Florida recovers in
place and has approximately the same number of individuals before and
after fire [7,10]. Firegrass in this habitat flowers very infrequently
except in recently burned pineland [10]. It flowers the first autumn
after fire provided the plant has had time to sprout [9]. About a year
after fire, burned sites have a stand of tall grasses, including
firegrass. This grass stage is typically prominent for only one season.
After 2 or 3 years the shrub understory has largely recovered, and the
grasses are much less prominent [9].
Saw-palmetto flatwoods in south-central Florida were burned to improve
native pastures. Average cover of all grasses, including firegrass,
increased from 30.5 percent to 42.2 percent after fire treatment [5].
Firegrass occurred in all measured longleaf pine and slash pine forests
in Liberty County that had been subject to prescribed fires designed to
retard development of a shrub component [12].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Limestone rockland slash pine forests of southeastern Florida require
fire to be maintained. These forests have been invaded by Brazilian
pepper which shades out the herbaceous flora, including firegrass.
Prescribed burning at approximately 5-year intervals within Everglades
National Park has largely prevented establishment of Brazilian pepper.
Native tropical hardwood tree species will also shade out firegrass and
other herbaceous species and they, too, can be controlled by fire. In
the absence of fire a layer of pine litter 8 to 28 inches (20-70 cm)
thick develops, and contributes to the elimination of the herbaceous
flora [7]. In the absence of fire for 15 to 25 years, pineland
vegetation develops into tropical hardwood hammocklike vegetation with
a 13- to 20-foot (4-6 m) canopy under the emergent pines. In a pine
forest burned at intervals of about 5 years, hardwood shrubs rarely
exceed 10 feet (3 m) in height.
In 11 limestone rockland slash pine forest sites in Everglades National
Park subject to prescribed burning every 3 to 7 years, firegrass had a
mean frequency of 44 percent and a density of 280 plants per 100 square
meters. Brazilian pepper was absent. In another stand which had
escaped fire for about 35 years, but in which Brazilian pepper was also
absent, frequency and density of firegrass were zero [7].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Andropogon cabanisii | Firegrass
REFERENCES :
1. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
2. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
3. Gould, Frank W.; Shaw, Robert B. 1983. Grass systematics. 2d ed. College
Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press. 397 p. [5667]
4. Hitchcock, A. S. 1951. Manual of the grasses of the United States. Misc.
Publ. No. 200. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Agricultural Research Administration. 1051 p. [2nd edition revised by
Agnes Chase in two volumes. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.]. [1165]
5. Kalmbacher, R. S.; Boote, K. J.; Martin, R. G. 1983. Burning and 2,4,5-T
application on mortality and carbohydrate reserves in saw-palmetto.
Journal of Range Management. 36(1): 9-12. [11955]
6. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
7. Loope, Lloyd L.; Dunevitz, Vicki L. 1981. Impact of fire exclusion and
invasion of Schinus terebinthifolius on limestone rockland pine forests
of southeastern Florida. Report T-645. Homestead, FL: U.S. Department of
the Interior, South Florida Research Center, Everglades National Park.
30 p. [17457]
8. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
9. Robertson, William B. 1962. Fire and vegetation in the Everglades. In:
Proceedings, 1st annual Tall Timbers fire ecology conference; 1962 March
1-2; Tallahassee, FL. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station:
67-80. [19340]
10. Snyder, James R.; Herndon, Alan; Robertson, William B., Jr. 1990. South
Florida rockland. In: Myers, Ronald L.; Ewel, John J., eds. Ecosystems
of Florida. Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Press: 230-274.
[17391]
11. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
12. Tanner, George W. 1987. Soils and vegetation of the longleaf/slash pine
forest type, Apalachicola National Forest, Florida. In: Pearson, Henry
A.; Smeins, Fred E.; Thill, Ronald E., compilers. Ecological, physical,
and socioeconomic relationships within southern National Forests; 1987
May 26-27; Long Beach, MS. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-68. New Orleans, LA: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Forest Experiment
Station: 186-200. [10173]
13. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
14. Wunderlin, Richard P. 1982. Guide to the vascular plants of central
Florida. Tampa, FL: University Presses of Florida, University of South
Florida. 472 p. [13125]
Index
Related categories for Species: Andropogon cabanisii
| Firegrass
|
 |
