''Agalinis skinneriana'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family (biology), family of mostly parasitic plants of the order (biology), order Lamiales, with about 90 genus, genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ...

known by the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s Skinner's gerardia, Skinner's false foxglove and pale false foxglove. It is native to North America, where it occurs in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

south to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

.''Agalinis skinneriana''.
Center for Plant Conservation.

Description

This plant is an annual herb with four-angled stems growing up to 40 centimeters tall. The linear leaves are oppositely arranged and each is up to 2.5 centimeters long. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is a

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

of pink or white flowers each up to 1.6 centimeters long. Blooming occurs in August through October.''Agalinis skinneriana''.
The Nature Conservancy. The flowers are visited by

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s.Dieringer, G. (1999)
Reproductive biology of ''Agalinis skinneriana'' (Scrophulariaceae), a threatened species.
''Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society'' 126(4) 289-95. However, each flower is open for only a few hours and it may pollinate itself. This plant is similar to and difficult to distinguish from several other ''Agalinis''.

Habitat

This plant grows on prairies. It can also be found in woods, barrens, and thickets. It is associated with other plants such as ''

Agalinis purpurea ''Agalinis purpurea'' (known by common names including purple false foxglove and purple gerardia) is an annual forb native to the eastern United States and Canada, USDA, NRCS. 2014. The PLANTS Database National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 274 ...

'', ''

Aletris farinosa ''Aletris farinosa'', called the unicorn root, true unicorn, crow-corn, white colic-root or white stargrass, is a plant species found across much of the eastern United States. It has also been reported from the southern part of Ontario, Canada. I ...

'', ''

Andropogon gerardi ''Andropogon gerardi'', commonly known as big bluestem, is a species of tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and grassland regions of central and eastern North America. It is also known as tall bluestem, bluejoint, and turkeyfoot. Taxon ...

'', '' Aster ptarmicoides'', ''

Calopogon tuberosus ''Calopogon tuberosus'', the tuberous grass pink, is an orchid native to eastern North America. Distribution In the United States, it occurs from as far southwest as Texas and Oklahoma and southeast to the Florida Everglades to as far northeast ...

'', ''

Liatris spicata ''Liatris spicata'', the dense blazing star, prairie feather, gayfeather or button snakewort, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to eastern North America where it grows in moist prairies and meadows ...

'', ''

Lobelia kalmii ''Lobelia kalmii'' is a species of flowering plant with a distribution primarily across Canada and the northern United States in temperate and boreal regions. It was formerly known as ''Lobelia strictiflora'' (Rydb.) It is commonly known as Kal ...

'', ''

Pycnanthemum virginianum ''Pycnanthemum virginianum'', the Virginia or common mountain-mint, is a plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is a herbaceous plant with narrow, opposite, simple leaves, on wiry, green stems. The flowers are white with purplish spotting, borne ...

'', and '' Solidago ohioensis'' The plant often grows in habitat maintained by a

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

of periodic

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

. Fire suppression is a threat to it.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4691143 skinneriana Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the North-Central United States