''Lysimachia asperulifolia'' ( orth. var. ''L. asperulaefolia'') is a rare species of flowering plant in the

Primulaceae The Primulaceae , commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the Onagraceae, evening primrose family), are a family (biology), family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden plants ...

known by the common name rough-leaved loosestrife and roughleaf yellow loosestrife. 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 ...

to the

Atlantic coastal plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and northern

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

in the United States, where there are 64 known populations.''Lysimachia asperulifolia''.

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 ...

. It is a federally listed

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

of the United States.

Description

This plant is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

perennial herb growing erect to a maximum height around 60 to 70 centimeters. The lower stem is pinkish in color and ribbed, and the upper stem is yellowish and lacks ribs. The stem in 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 covered in reddish glands. The leaves are green, lance-shaped, and up to 5 centimeters long by 2 wide. They are borne in whorls of three or four around the stem, or sometimes in opposite pairs. The leaves are not rough in texture as the common name would suggest.''Lysimachia asperulifolia''.
Center for Plant Conservation. Smaller, tougher, brown-colored leaves are opposite or borne in whorls of up to 7 near the stem base. The top of the stem is occupied by the inflorescence, which 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 star-shaped yellow flowers interspersed with leaflike green

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s. Each flower has 4 to 7, but usually five, yellow petals with wide bases and pointed, ragged tips. The petals and green

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 are dotted with red glands and streaked with reddish resin canals. The fruit is a red-mottled straw-colored capsule a few millimeters in length.''Lysimachia asperulifolia''.
Flora of North America.

Habitat

This herb grows in a number of

plant communities A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant co ...

on the coastal plains of southern North Carolina and northern South Carolina, including

pocosin A pocosin is a type of palustrine wetland with deep, acidic, sandy, peat soils. Groundwater saturates the soil except during brief seasonal dry spells and during prolonged droughts. Pocosin soils are nutrient-deficient (oligotrophic), especially ...

sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and be ...

s, pine flatwoods and pine savannas. It is most commonly found in open areas in the

ecotone An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...

between

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

and pond pine pocosins. The soil is seasonally wet to waterlogged or submerged, low in nutrients, rich in

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

over sandy substrates. The plant is found in sections of these habitat types which, in their pristine state, are openings in a dense layer of

shrubs A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

which are kept open by severe 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 ...

s. Fire prevents

ecological succession Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire) or more or less. Bacteria allows for the cycling of nutrients such as ca ...

, maintaining a type of

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

in which the taller vegetation is kept small and sparse, allowing the herb layer to flourish in the sun. Trees, shrubs, and ferns in the area include '' Aronia arbutifolia'' (chokeberry), ''

Clethra alnifolia ''Clethra alnifolia'', the coastal sweetpepperbush or summersweet, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Clethra'' of the family Clethraceae, native to eastern North America from southern Nova Scotia and Maine south to northern Florida, ...

'' (summersweet), ''

Cyrilla racemiflora ''Cyrilla racemiflora'', the sole species in the genus ''Cyrilla'', is a flowering plant in the family Cyrillaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Americas, from the southeastern United States (coastal areas from southeastern ...

'' (titi), ''

Fothergilla gardenii ''Fothergilla gardenii'', also known by the common names witch alder,Brickell, Christopher "The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z of Garden Plants (Volume 1: A-J)", 3rd ed. Copyright 1996, 2003, 2008 Dorling Kindersley Ltd., London. pp. 452-453 dw ...

'' (dwarf fothergilla), ''

Ilex glabra ''Ilex glabra'', also known as Appalachian tea, dye-leaves, evergreen winterberry, gallberry, and inkberry, is a species of evergreen holly native to the coastal plain of eastern North America, from coastal Nova Scotia to Florida and west to Lo ...

'' (Appalachian tea), ''

Magnolia virginiana ''Magnolia virginiana'', most commonly known as sweetbay magnolia, or merely sweetbay (also laurel magnolia, swampbay, swamp magnolia, white bay, or beaver tree), is a member of the magnolia family, Magnoliaceae. It was the first magnolia to be ...

'' (sweetbay), ''

Osmunda cinnamomea ''Osmundastrum'' is genus of leptosporangiate ferns in the family Osmundaceae with one living species, ''Osmundastrum cinnamomeum'', the cinnamon fern. It is native to the Americas and eastern Asia, growing in swamps, bogs and moist woodlands. I ...

'' (cinnamon fern), ''

Persea palustris ''Persea palustris'', also known as swamp bay or swampbay, is a small tree or shrub found throughout the Southeastern United States and the Bahamas, with much of its range overlapping with that of its relative ''Persea borbonia''. It is generally ...

'' (swampbay), '' Symplocos tinctoria'' (yellowwood), and ''

Vaccinium ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...

'' species (wild blueberries). Herbs, grasses, and

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es associated with this ecosystem include ''

Andropogon glomeratus ''Andropogon glomeratus'' is a species of grass known by the common names bushy bluestem and bushy beardgrass. This bunchgrass is native to the Americas, where it is widespread. It has also naturalized in other areas. The genus name ''Andropogon ...

'' (bushy bluestem), ''

Aristida stricta ''Aristida stricta'' is a warm-season grass, native to North America, that dominates understory vegetation in sandhills and flatwoods coastal plain ecosystems of the Carolinas in the Southeastern United States. It is known as wiregrass (due to i ...

'' (wiregrass), ''

Drosera intermedia ''Drosera intermedia'', commonly known as the oblong-leaved sundew, spoonleaf sundew, or spatulate leaved sundew, is an insectivorous plant species belonging to the sundew genus. It is a temperate or tropical species native to Europe, southeaste ...

'' (oblong-leaved sundew), ''

Drosera capillaris ''Drosera capillaris'', the pink or spathulate-leaved sundew (not to be confused with ''Drosera spatulata''), is a small carnivorous plant of the family Droseraceae in the genus ''Sundew, Drosera''. They are frequently found in wet pine flatwood ...

'' (pink sundew), '' Lachnanthes caroliniana'' (redroot), '' Peltandra sagittifolia'' (spoon flower), ''

Sarracenia flava ''Sarracenia flava'', the yellow pitcherplant, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Like all the Sarraceniaceae, it is native to the New World. Its range extends from southern Alabama, through Florida and Georgia, to the coastal ...

'' (yellow pitcher plant), and ''

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store wa ...

'' species (sphagnum mosses). In the 1980s the only known viable populations of the plant were located in Green Swamp Nature Preserve and the

Croatan National Forest The Croatan National Forest ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU) is one of the largest military terminals in the world. It serves as a transfer point between rail, trucks, and ships for the import and export of weapons, ammunition, explosives and military equipment ...

.USFWS
''Lysimachia asperulifolia'' Recovery Plan.
April 19, 1995. Another was located on

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

. A program of

prescribed fire A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

was instituted on military base territory in the region to preserve habitat for the

red-cockaded woodpecker The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States. Description The red-cockaded woodpecker is small to mid-sized species, being intermediate in size between North America's two ...

(''Picoides borealis''). This habitat was appropriate for the plant as well, and as a result some additional populations appeared where it had been crowded out by vegetation overgrowth before. One such population is located at

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( Wilmingt ...

, and more occurrences grew at Fort Bragg. The South Carolina occurrence is located on Fort Jackson. In 1995 there were 64 populations known. Because the plant usually reproduces vegetatively by sprouting from its rhizome, creating clones, what appears to be a large population may actually be relatively few genetic individuals with many cloned stems above the ground.

Environmental Issues

The main threat to the species is the loss and degradation of its habitat. Much of the land in the region has been developed, the wetlands drained and dried to create land for residential, industrial, and recreational purposes. Habitat that remains is improperly managed, becoming degraded as the natural

fire regime A fire regime is the pattern, frequency, and intensity of the bushfires and wildfires that prevail in an area over long periods of time. It is an integral part of fire ecology, and renewal for certain types of ecosystems. A fire regime describes th ...

is prevented. As

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 ...

practices have been implemented, the pocosins, sandhills, and swamps have overgrown with brush and woody vegetation. Shrubs are not kept back and they grow to large sizes and shade out the smaller plants in the herb layer. Even where fire is prescribed or allowed to take place, pocosins do not burn thoroughly enough to remove the heavy organic layers that accumulate there. Activities involved with fire may also be detrimental, as

firebreak A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebre ...

s are often plowed in the very ecotone openings where the plant most often grows.

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 people to ...

, including pine plantations, and other types of operations alter the

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

of the wetlands, making conditions unsuitable for this and other native plants. Many of the populations are located on military bases and are vulnerable to destruction during military operations.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6710172 asperulifolia Flora of North Carolina Flora of South Carolina Endemic flora of the United States