''Cuphea aspera'' is a species of flowering plant in the loosestrife family known by the common names tropical waxweed and Chapman's waxweed. 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 elsew ...

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, and to ...

in the United States, where it is limited to

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

and Franklin Counties on the central

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. It has likely been extirpated from

Calhoun County Calhoun County is the name of several counties in the United States of America named after U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun: * Calhoun County, Alabama * Calhoun County, Arkansas * Calhoun County, Florida * Calhoun County, Georgia * Calhoun Count ...

.''Cuphea aspera''.
The Nature Conservancy. This perennial herb grows up to about 40 centimeters tall from a woody, branching rootstock. The stems are coated in white hairs and purplish glandular hairs. The oppositely arranged or whorled leaves are each up to 2.5 centimeters long. The opposite or whorled flowers have lavender or pink petals and reddish

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 b ...

s. Blooming occurs in June and July. This plant is somewhat similar to the nonnative Colombian waxweed, which has alternately arranged flowers. This plant grows in moist and wet habitat, such as wet prairies and seeps. It also occurs on roadsides.''Cuphea aspera''.
Center for Plant Conservation. It prefers open habitat, such as fire-maintained openings in forest. There are about twenty populations, most of which are located on private property owned by timber companies. The habitat has been converted to silviculture of slash pine. Threats include

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 eliminates the normal fire regime and allows closure of the canopy, shading out the plants. The species is not tolerant of shade. Besides fire suppression and conversion of the habitat, threats include

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

use and mechanical disturbance such as mowing.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5194461 aspera Endemic flora of Florida Taxa named by Alvan Wentworth Chapman