Pitted Stripeseed

Organisms / Plants / Herbaceous Flowers

Piriqueta caroliniana

Marl Prarie, Everglades National Park (25.336N, 80.806W)

March 20, 2008

Photograph by Sinclair Johnston

 

Descriptive Information

Field Marks: 5-6 yellow petals; long, thin stem with a slight “hairy” feeling; several grayish-green leaves.
Size: Stem is 4-8 inches tall; petals are 3/4 inch wide.
General Habitat: Marshes and open pinelands.
Range: Southeastern United States, Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola.

Field Observations
As we combed an approximately 2-acre area of Marl Prairie, we only were able to find 3 of the pitted stripeseeds. They were always growing in one single stalk, with thin grayish-green leaves and a long, thin, slightly hairy stem. Every flower was growing in the open, in a patch of dried periphyton, instead of in among the sawgrass like other plants. We suspect this might have been due to the higher presence of moisture and nutrients under the protecting cover of the periphyton. Later we read that these flowers do in fact need consistently moist soil, and will die if it completely dries out between watering. This may be a main reason for the small number that we were able to find.

References
"Plant Files: Morning Buttercup, Piriquet, Pitted Stripeseed" Dave's Garden. 14 February 2009. <http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/127515/>.

Hammer, Roger L. Everglades Wildflowers. Guilford: Globe Pequot, 2002.

Page developed by Sara Goodwin and Sinclair Johnston