''Eryngium cuneifolium'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the

carrot family Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus '' Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plan ...

known by the common names wedgeleaf eryngo, wedge-leaved button-snakeroot, and simply snakeroot. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

in the United States where it is known only from Highlands County.USFWS
''Eryngium cuneifolium'' Five-year Review.
July 2010. It is one of many rare species that can be found only on the Lake Wales Ridge, an area of high endemism.''Eryngium cuneifolium''.
Center for Plant Conservation.
Archibold Station. It was federally listed as an endangered species of the United States in 1987.''Eryngium cuneifolium''.

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

. This is an erect

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

growing 20 to 66 centimeters in maximum height. The woody

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

may be over 20 centimeters long. The distinctive leaves are wedge-shaped with usually three bristle-tipped teeth at the tips. The basal leaves are largest and there are a few smaller ones along the erect flowering stem. The herbage is aromatic. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

is a compound

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' " ...

of several dense headlike clusters of flowers. Each individual flower has five sharp-pointed

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined ...

s, making the clusters bristly. The flowers have white, or possibly blue, or greenish flowers. Blooming occurs in July through January, but especially August through October. This is a plant of the

Florida scrub Florida sand pine scrub is an endangered subtropical forest ecoregion found throughout Florida in the United States. It is found on coastal and inland sand ridges and is characterized by an evergreen xeromorphic plant community dominated by shrub ...

. It grows in bare stretches of white sand, including gaps in the

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers, native to the Mediterranean region. Until 2017, it was known by the scientific name ''Rosma ...

and sand pine scrub and in blowouts. The land is dry and the bare, sunny gaps in the scrub are maintained by periodic

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

. Other plants in the habitat include silk bay (''Persea humilis''), scrub palmetto (''Sabal etonia''),

eastern prickly pear ''Opuntia humifusa'', commonly known as the devil's-tongue, Eastern prickly pear or Indian fig, is a cactus of the genus ''Opuntia'' present in parts of the eastern United States. Description As is the case in other ''Opuntia'' species, the gr ...

(''Opuntia humifusa''), and several species of oak. There are 19 known occurrences of this plant, all within one Florida county. Eight are on protected land, such as the Lake Wales Ridge Wildlife Area. The other 11 are on private, unprotected land. Their status is not certain, but four of these occurrences are believed

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

or on the verge of destruction. Remaining stretches of Florida scrub such as that inhabited by the snakeroot are vulnerable to destruction. Much of it has been consumed for development and for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, especially

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nati ...

groves.''Eryngium cuneifolium''.
Multi-species Recovery Plan for South Florida. Habitat that remains is in a fragmented condition. In many areas, including some of the protected regions, the land is not properly managed to maintain the natural habitat. The Florida scrub is a fire-prone landscape and many of the plants require fire every few decades to thrive. This snakeroot, for example, requires periodic disturbance such as fire to clear out tall and woody vegetation that grows up around it and blocks the sun. The plant requires wide open habitat for survival, and plants located farther from other shrubs grow more successfully.Menges, E. S. and J. Kimmich. (1996)
Microhabitat and time-since-fire: Effects on demography of ''Eryngium cuneifolium'' (Apiaceae), a Florida scrub endemic plant.
''American Journal of Botany'' 83:2 185-91.

Fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...

, which is practiced to prevent property damage, prevents this disturbance and leads to overgrowth of the scrub. This species also needs fire in order to

germinate Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spores of fungi, fer ...

, because excessive

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

and lichen cover on the ground inhibit this process. The snakeroot population skyrockets after the scrub is burned, and its survival, growth, and

fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...

are increased.Menges, E. S. and P. F. Quintana-Ascencio. (2004)
Population viability with fire in ''Eryngium cuneifolium'': Deciphering a decade of demographic data.
''Ecological Monographs'' 74:1 79-99. During fire, the plant is destroyed, but its soil seed bank is exposed for germination, and many seedlings occur. The plant has a limited capacity for dispersal, and most seeds end up in the ground near the parent plant. Germination also may be inhibited by the scrub rosemary, which produces allelopathic compounds.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5396298 cuneifolium Endemic flora of Florida Highlands County, Florida