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

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

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 contrast ...

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 one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

south to

Missouri Missouri 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 is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

.''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 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 o ...

is a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, 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 produced as the s ...

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 monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

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'', ''

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 ''Solidago ptarmicoides'', the prairie goldenrod, white flat-top goldenrod or upland white aster, is a North American perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the central and eastern Canada (from New Brunswick to Manito ...

'', '' Calopogon tuberosus'', ''

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

'', '' Lobelia kalmii'', ''

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 ''Solidago ohioensis'' is a North American plant species in the family Asteraceae, called the Ohio goldenrod. It is found primarily in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States, in Ontario, New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, India ...

'' The plant often grows in habitat maintained by a

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

of periodic

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

. 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