#agalinis

[faguscarolinensis]

Agalinis purpurea / Purple False Foxglove on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, NC

[cedar-glade]

Sunken Creek Fen, 

Small stream break with saturated marl exposure means all of the classics

once again, 

Agalinis purpurea,  purple false fox glove.

Spiranthes incurva, sphinx ladies tress orchid. 

both growing in-situ with the common culprits/ companion plants that share the same niche. 

[that-crazy-scorpio-man]

Slender false foxglove or common gerardia (Agalinis tenuifolia)

[dendroica]

Purple False Foxglove, Agalinis purpurea (by me)

[faguscarolinensis]

Lerema accius on Agalinis purpurea / Clouded Skipper on Purple False Foxglove on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, NC

[faguscarolinensis]

Agalinis purpurea / Purple False Foxglove on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham, NC

[cedar-glade]

Slender short grass boreal species essentially require some form of microclimate to grow. The seeds require sunlight to germinate and the liniar singlet leaves require that spot to have minimal competition year round to prevent crowding out. Fens are fairly diverse in their forbe matrix, most fen plants are fairly large species and yet, due to fairly cold conditions that limit water intake from most, and the fact that in some areas where up welling springs occur on the surface with dispersing water or moving water allows certain areas to have mineral beds that essentially calcify at the surface inbetween small partical sized calceric dust. When calcite forms concretions between calcium carbinate dust sized particles at areas where springs occur or convein we get a geological feature called a marl bed. These beds are perfect for plants such as this one,  Agalinis purpurea, purple false fox glove, Greene co. Pearls fen, OH.

Most of these species are found in calceric sand spots up north and alvars along lakes where kettle depressions or interdunal wetlands occur, Waterlogged alkaline sandstone thats forms concretions at the surface in colder climates are also a good place. In southern areas we can see some coastal interdunal wetlands with good flow and cold water having them, The only other place you really see them is among diverse fens. 

In the dry/ more ericaceous sites we get a close realative and look a like that has two lateral leaves the same size as the main one called Beech False Fox Glove.  Agalinis fasciculata this gives this species a trifoliate appearence although these leaves are actually not leaflets and are infact distinct.

[cedar-glade]

Agalinis tenuifolia

slender false foxglove, hiding out by one of many interdunal lakes. 

from Indiana Dunes last fall. 

Took me a while to figure out what this species was. You can’t really tell the foliage in this photo since it’s lacking a lot of it and the species is known to have sparce foliage to begin with and it doesn’t help that it’s flower color was off since it was on it’s way out. Now I know the pain of iding these late year, at least It wasn’t Agalinis divaricata, gotta have respect for Alabama botanists doing late season cataloging.