Andropogon campbellii U.B. Deshmukh, M.B. Shende, & E.S. Reddy

Locations ofAndropogon campbellii U.B. Deshmukh, M.B. Shende, & E.S. Reddy in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Poaceae
Botanical Name
Andropogon campbellii U.B. Deshmukh, M.B. Shende, & E.S. Reddy
Common Name
Deceptive Bluestem
Synonym(s)
Andropogon virginicus L. var. decipiens C. Campbell
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Andropogon virginicus L. var. decipiens C. Campbell
Comments
Until recently, this plant, a southeastern Coastal Plain endemic (VA to FL), was known in Virginia only from two historical collections by Fernald and Long from longleaf pine barrens in southeastern Virginia; these were reported as A. virginicus var. glaucus, a synonym of Andropogon capillipes. The same two records were subsequently determined by Campbell as A. virginicus var. decipiens. Andropogon capillipes is not known to occur in Virginia, reaching its northern limit in North Carolina. Since the two historical records were discovered, populations have been documented in interdune swales on the Eastern Shore and at False Cape, as well as from hardpan flats in Halifax Co., boggy clearings in Buckingham, Hanover, King William, and Henrico counties, and a Shenandoah Valley sinkhole pond in Augusta Co. Further field inventory and collection efforts will no doubt reveal that it is more widespread in eastern Virginia than current records indicate.

This taxon is a very slender Andropogon that differs greatly from the weedy A. virginicus, both morphologically and ecologically. Bridges and Orzell (2020, J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 14: 199-240) elevated it to species rank on morphological grounds, but Deshmuke et al. (2022, Phytotaxa 530(1): 111-112) found the name A. decipiens is illegitimate and renamed it A. campbellii.
Habitat
Moist to dry sandy woodlands and clearings, in areas now or formerly occupied by Longleaf Pine; recently documented in boggy interdune swales, alternately wet-and-dry flats, depression ponds, and artificial impoundment shores. Infrequent in the s. and c. Coastal Plain; apparently rare in the Piedmont and disjunct to Augusta County in the Ridge and Valley province; additional field and herbarium studies are needed to clarify the status of this taxon, which may be somewhat overlooked.
Native Status
Native

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