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    Conyza floribunda, a species native to South America, was documented naturalizing in Chambers County, Texas. Several colonies of the annual plant were observed growing in a coastal live oak woodland. This represents a new record for the species in Texas. The woodland provides unique habitat on a salt dome that rises above the surrounding marshes. Further monitoring is needed to understand the invasive potential of C. floribunda along the Texas coast.

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    Conyza floribunda, a species native to South America, was documented naturalizing in Chambers County, Texas. Several colonies of the annual plant were observed growing in a coastal live oak woodland. This represents a new record for the species in Texas. The woodland provides unique habitat on a salt dome that rises above the surrounding marshes. Further monitoring is needed to understand the invasive potential of C. floribunda along the Texas coast.

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    36 views4 pages

    Conyza Floribunda (Asteraceae) New To The Flora of Texas

    Uploaded by

    Fatima Bano
    Conyza floribunda, a species native to South America, was documented naturalizing in Chambers County, Texas. Several colonies of the annual plant were observed growing in a coastal live oak woodland. This represents a new record for the species in Texas. The woodland provides unique habitat on a salt dome that rises above the surrounding marshes. Further monitoring is needed to understand the invasive potential of C. floribunda along the Texas coast.

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    Singhurst, J.R. and W.C. Holmes. 2013. Conyza floribunda (Asteraceae) new to the flora of Texas.

    Phytoneuron 2013-13: 1–
    4. Published 9 February 2013. ISSN 2153 733X

    CONYZA FLORIBUNDA (ASTERACEAE) NEW TO THE FLORA OF TEXAS

    JASON R. SINGHURST
    Wildlife Diversity Program
    Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
    4200 Smith School Road
    Austin, Texas 78744
    jason.singhurst@tpwd.state.tx.us

    WALTER C. HOLMES
    Department of Biology
    Baylor University
    Waco, Texas 76798-7388
    walter_holmes@baylor.edu

    ABSTRACT
    Conyza floribunda (Erigeron sumatrensis) is documented as naturalizing in Texas. Several
    colonies were found growing in a coastal live oak woodland in Chambers County. The species has
    moderate invasive potential along the Texas coast.
    KEY WORDS: Asteraceae, Conyza, Erigeron sumatrensis, Texas, salt dome, chênière, naturalized

    Conyza floribunda Kunth in H.B.K., commonly known as asthmaweed, was recently


    documented as naturalizing in Chambers County, Texas. The species has not previously been
    reported in Texas (Correll & Johnson 1970; Hatch et al. 1990; Jones et al. 1997; Turner et al. 2003).
    The species is thought to be native to South America (Strother 2006) and has been introduced into the
    United States in Alabama, California, Georgia, and Mississippi (USDA NRCS 2013) and Florida
    (Strother 2006), as well as Mexico, Central America, Europe, Asia, and Africa (Strother 2006).

    Conyza floribunda (Figs. 1, 2) was found growing in shaded gaps in the understory of a
    chênière (a coastal woodland) in Chambers County. More than a dozen colonies, each averaging
    about 0.2 meters square, were observed at this site and immature seedlings were observed. Plants are
    annual and individuals have one to multiple stems from a single basal rosette. The species is further
    characterized by its erect habit, pistillate florets numbering 2–45+, strigose phyllaries, and pale tan
    cypselae with some in each head with reddish nerves.

    Voucher: USA. Texas. Chambers Co.: Boy Scout Woods (Louis B. Smith Bird Sanctuary
    Preserve), 0.2 mi E of the junction of Texas Hwy 124 and 5th Street, High Island, 2 Jan 2013,
    Singhurst 19326 (BAYLU).

    Coastal live oak (Quercus virginiana) dominated woodlands in Texas are located in the
    middle and upper Gulf coast. The woodland at Boy Scout Woods Preserve (also known as Louis B.
    Smith Bird Sanctuary) occurs on High Island, which is the surface expression of a salt dome at the
    edge of the Gulf of Mexico (Houston Audubon Sanctuaries 2013). A thick layer of ancient salt, about
    9150 m below the surface, exists throughout coastal southeast Texas. At some locations (High Island
    an example) a column of salt was squeezed upward toward the surface, producing a "dome" (locally
    known as an “island”) at the surface. The High Island dome is about 1.6 km in diameter and is
    elevated 9.7 m above the surrounding marshes, thus providing conditions favorable to trees and
    shrubs, in this case a chênière. It forms a unique and important “island” of habitat for migrating
    birds.
    Singhurst and Holmes: Conyza floribunda in Texas 2

    Figure 1. Conyza floribunda at High Island in Chambers County, Texas. Photo by Singhurst.
    Singhurst and Holmes: Conyza floribunda in Texas 3

    Fig. 2. Conyza floribunda showing basal rosettes and maturing stems bolting into flower. Photo by Singhurst.
    Singhurst and Holmes: Conyza floribunda in Texas 4

    The Boy Scout Woods Preserve woodland is dominated by Quercus virginiana, Q. nigra,
    Prunus caroliniana, and Celtis laevigata. Other important trees include Acer rubrum, Carya
    illinoensis, Gleditsia triacanthos, Magnolia grandiflora, Morus rubra, Persea borbonia, Quercus
    pagoda, Triadica sebifera, and Ulmus americana. Understory shrubs include Cornus drummondii,
    Erythrina herbacea, Ilex vomitoria, Ligustrum sinense, Malvaviscus drummondii, and Sabal minor.
    Prominent herbaceous flora consists of Andropogon glomeratus, Carex cherokeensis, Chasmanthium
    latifolium, Oplismenus hirtellus, and Verbesina virginica.

    Strother (2006) included four species of Conyza in his treatment of the genus in the Flora of
    North America, with three species (C. bonariensis (L.) Cronq., C. canadensis (L.) Cronq., and C.
    ramosissima Cronq.) cited as present in Texas. He noted that Conyza is evolutionary nested within
    Erigeron, arising independently from several different ancestral loci within the genus. As a species of
    Erigeron, the correct name for the species is E. sumatrensis Retz (as treated in Calflora 2013). We
    have used the name in Conyza following the Flora of North America treatment.

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
    We wish to express our gratitude to our botanical colleague and friend Guy Nesom for his
    assistance. We also thank the Houston Audubon Society for access and the opportunity to document
    the flora of Boy Scout Woods Preserve.

    LITERATURE CITED
    Calflora. 2013. Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, based on
    data contributed by dozens of public and private institutions and individuals, including the
    Consortium of California Herbaria. [web application]. Berkeley, California: The Calflora
    Database [a non-profit organization]. <http://www.calflora.org/> Accessed 8 Feb 2013.
    Correll, D.S. and M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Texas Research
    Foundation, Renner.
    Hatch, S.L., K.N. Ghandi, and L.E. Brown. 1990. Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Texas. Texas
    Agricultural Experiment Station Pub. 1655. Texas A&M Univ., College Station.
    Houston Audubon Sanctuaries. 2013. High Island History and Geology.
    <http://www.houstonaudubon.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/757/MenuGroup/HighIsland.htm>
    Accessed 8 Feb 2013.
    Jones, S.D., J.K. Wipff, and P.M. Montgomery. 1997. Vascular Plants of Texas: A Comprehensive
    Checklist Including Synonymy, Bibliography, and Index. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
    Strother, J.L. 2006. Conyza (Asteraceae). Pp. 348–350, in Flora of North America North of Mexico,
    Vol. 20. Oxford Univ. Press, New York and Oxford
    Turner, B.L., H. Nichols, G.C. Denny, and O. Doron. 2003. Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Texas.
    Sida, Bot. Misc. 24, Vol. 1. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth.

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