plains snake-cotton
(Froelichia floridana var. campestris)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Use • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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| IUCN Red List | not listed |
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| NatureServe | N4N5 - Apparently Secure to Secure SNR - Unranked |
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| Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Plains snake-cotton is a 20″ to 40″ tall, erect, annual forb that rises on a single stem from a semi-woody taproot. The stem is stout, usually erect or ascending, sometimes trailing on the ground but not rooting at the nodes. It may be unbranched or have a few branches at the base, and may also be branched above the middle. It is covered with short, sticky, whitish or brownish hairs. The hairs are sometimes woolly and matted or tangled. The leaves are opposite, stalkless or nearly stalkless, and mostly on the lower ⅓ of the stem. The larger leaves are elliptic inversely lance-shaped, widest above the middle, 1½″ to 5½″ long, and ⅜″ to 1¼″ wide. They are wedge-shaped or taper gradually to a narrow point at the base, and are rounded at the tip or angled with the angle more than 90°. When young, the upper leaf surface is white due to a dense covering of silky or woolly hairs. At maturity the upper surface is frequently nearly hairless. The lower surface is densely covered with short, soft, matted or tangled, woolly hairs, both when young and at maturity. The margins are untoothed. At the end of each stem and branch is an elongated, branched inflorescence (panicle) with pairs of short-stalked spikes ascending from the nodes of the central axis (rachis). The space between the lowest two nodes of the stalk is seldom over 4″. The spikes are dense, pyramid-shaped, ⅜″ to 3⅛″ long, ⅜″ to 9 ⁄16″ in diameter. The overall appearance is of an interrupted spike. The flowers are arranged in a dense, 5-ranked spiral. Each flower is ⅛″ to ¼″ wide. There are 5 white to yellowish-white sepals fused for most of their length into a flask-shaped, 2-lipped, 5-lobed tube. The sepals are densely covered with woolly hairs. There are no petals. The fruit is a flask-shaped, inflated, 3 ⁄16″ long, 3 ⁄16″ wide, bladder-like pouch (utricle) containing 1 seed. |
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Height |
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20″ to 40″ |
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Flower Color |
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White |
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Similar Species |
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Habitat |
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Dry. Prairies, streambanks, river banks, railroads, roadsides, disturbed sites. Full sun. Sandy soil. |
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Ecology |
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Flowering |
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July to September |
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Pests and Diseases |
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Use |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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| 10/22/2021 | ||||
Nativity |
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Native |
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Occurrence |
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Taxonomy |
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| Kingdom | Plantae (green algae and land plants) | ||
| Subkingdom | Viridiplantae (green plants) | ||
| Infrakingdom | Streptophyta (land plants and green algae) | ||
| Superdivision | Embryophyta (land plants) | ||
| Division | Tracheophyta (vascular plants) | ||
| Subdivision | Spermatophytina (seed plants) | ||
| Class | Magnoliopsida (flowering plants) | ||
| Superorder | Caryophyllanae | ||
Order |
Caryophyllales (pinks, cactuses, and allies) | ||
Family |
Amaranthaceae (Amaranth) | ||
| Subfamily | Gomphrenoideae | ||
Genus |
Froelichia (snake-cotton) | ||
| Species | Froelichia floridana (plains snake-cotton) | ||
Subordinate Taxa |
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Synonyms |
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Froelichia campestris |
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Common Names |
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cottonweed common cotton-weed field snake-cotton Florida snake-cotton plains snake-cotton plains snakecotton prairie froelichia |
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Glossary
Bract
Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.
Panicle
A pyramidal inflorescence with a main stem and branches. Flowers on the lower, longer branches mature earlier than those on the shorter, upper ones.
Rachis
The main axis of a compound leaf, appearing as an extension of the leaf stalk; the main axis of an inflorescence.
Sepal
An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.
Utricle
A small, dry, inflated, thin-walled, bladder-like fruit containing 1 seed.
Visitor Photos |
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Nancy Falkum |
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Prairie Cottonweed remnant from last season |
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Prairie Cottonweed Froelichia floridana |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Visitor Sightings |
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| Nancy Falkum 3/20/2022 |
Location: Kellogg Weaver Dunes SNA, Weaver Dunes Unit Prairie Cottonweed remnant from last season |
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| Nancy Falkum 7/22/2021 |
Location: Kellogg Weaver Dunes SNA, Weaver Dunes Unit Prairie Cottonweed Froelichia floridana |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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