// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Agrimonia incisa say? "I'm cut above the rest.
| Agrimonia incisa | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Agrimonia |
| Species: | A. incisa |
| Binomial name | |
| Agrimonia incisa | |
Agrimonia incisa, commonly known as pineland agrimony, incised agrimony, or incised groovebur, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is a perennial herb endemic to the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States. It occurs primarily in open, fire-maintained longleaf pine woodlands and associated disturbed pineland habitats from eastern South Carolina south to central peninsular Florida and west to eastern Texas.[2][1]
The species is distinguished from related agrimonies by its glandular stems and inflorescence axes, deeply divided stipules, relatively numerous broad leaflets, and flowers that are mostly alternately arranged along the inflorescence.[3]
Description
[edit]Agrimonia incisa is a perennial herb with persistent stems and thickened roots. The stems and inflorescence axes bear spreading or ascending non-glandular hairs together with conspicuous, sessile, glistening glands.[3]
The leaves are pinnately compound and alternately arranged. Middle stem leaves generally have between seven and thirteen major leaflets, most often nine or more. Smaller leaflet pairs may occur between the major leaflets. The major leaflets are obovate to elliptic, with tips ranging from blunt to acute. The paired stipules at the bases of the leaf stalks are divided or incised along their entire margins.[3]
The flowers are borne along a narrow terminal inflorescence and are mostly alternately arranged rather than paired or subopposite. As in other members of Agrimonia, the flowers are small and yellow, with five petals and numerous stamens.
The fruit develops within a hardened, cup-shaped hypanthium equipped with hooked bristles. These burs are adapted for external dispersal by attaching to the fur of animals, clothing, or other passing objects.[1]
Flowering generally occurs from July through early September, although flowering specimens have been collected from July into early October.[2][1]
Taxonomy
[edit]Agrimonia incisa was described by American botanists John Torrey and Asa Gray in 1840. The name was published in the third part of volume 1 of their Flora of North America.[4]
The name is cited as:
- Agrimonia incisa Torr. & A.Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1(3): 431. 1840.[4]
The type material was collected in Alabama by Dr. H. Gates. A specimen at the New York Botanical Garden herbarium was designated as the lectotype by G. J. Kline and P. D. Sørensen in 2008.[4]
The specific epithet incisa is derived from Latin and means "cut" or "incised", referring to the deeply divided margins of the stipules.
Identification
[edit]Within the southeastern United States, Agrimonia incisa belongs to a group of agrimonies whose stems and inflorescences bear sessile or short-stalked glistening glands.[3]
It differs from Agrimonia striata in having generally nine to thirteen major leaflets on the middle stem leaves and stipules that are incised along their entire margins. A. striata generally has five to seven major leaflets and stipules that are only proximally incised or nearly entire.[3]
It is particularly similar to Agrimonia parviflora. The major leaflets of A. incisa are obovate to elliptic with blunt to acute tips, and its flowers are mostly alternately arranged. In A. parviflora, the major leaflets are lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic with usually long-pointed tips, and the flowers are mostly subopposite. The two also differ ecologically: A. incisa is associated with Coastal Plain pinelands, while A. parviflora generally occurs in bottomlands and marshes.[3]
Distribution
[edit]Agrimonia incisa is endemic to the United States and is restricted to the southeastern Coastal Plain. Its confirmed range extends from eastern South Carolina south through Georgia and Florida and west through Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to eastern Texas.[2][1]
Habitat and ecology
[edit]Agrimonia incisa grows mainly in sandy, dry-mesic, open woodlands of the lower Coastal Plain. Typical habitats include longleaf pine–scrub oak woodlands, open pine woods, mixed pine–oak woods, sandy bluffs, small clearings, and old roadsides. It may also occur near the edges of more mesic habitats, including maritime thickets developed on sand or shell substrates.[1]
The species is strongly associated with fire-maintained vegetation. Common associates include grasses and herbs in the genera Aristida, Andropogon, Panicum, Desmodium, Lespedeza, Liatris, Heterotheca, Solidago, and Symphyotrichum.[1]
Its thickened roots probably allow established plants to resprout after fire. Individuals may persist for some time after fire is excluded, but recruitment may depend on openings produced by fire or other disturbances, such as tree falls, animal burrows, or abandoned roads.[1]
The hooked fruits are probably dispersed by animals and people. NatureServe reports that small bees in the subfamily Halictinae act as pollinators, although much of the reproductive biology, germination ecology, and response to fire remains poorly studied.[1]
Conservation
[edit]NatureServe assigns Agrimonia incisa a global conservation rank of G3G4, indicating uncertainty between vulnerable and apparently secure. Its rounded global rank is G3, or vulnerable. The assessment was reviewed on 10 April 2025 using NatureServe's conservation-rank calculator.[1]
The species is ranked N3N4 in the United States. State ranks are S2 in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina; S3 in Georgia and Texas; and S1, or critically imperiled, in Louisiana. It has no status under the United States Endangered Species Act.[1]
NatureServe estimates that there are between 81 and 300 occurrences across the species' range, including approximately 70 occurrences with good or excellent viability.[1]
Although it occurs across a relatively broad region, A. incisa is local and considered rare throughout its range. NatureServe estimates that its abundance is between 10,000 and 1,000,000 individuals, noting that some unusually large populations are known.[1]
The primary threat is the loss and degradation of open longleaf pine habitat. Fire exclusion allows the development of dense tree and shrub cover and heavy accumulated vegetation, reducing the open ground conditions required by the species. Large portions of its historical habitat have also been converted to agriculture, land development, or intensively managed pine plantations.[1]
Forestry practices involving bulldozing, root raking, bedding, deep chopping, or certain herbicides may destroy plants and associated native groundcover. Other potential threats include declining animal-mediated seed dispersal and the loss of insect pollinators through pesticide use.[1]
NatureServe estimates a long-term decline of 50 to 70 percent, reflecting extensive historical habitat loss, and a continuing short-term decline of 10 to 30 percent caused by the ongoing loss of open, fire-maintained habitat.[1]
The species has been documented on the Angelina, Apalachicola, Conecuh, De Soto, Francis Marion, and Sabine national forests. Protected occurrences are also known from military installations, state forests, wildlife management areas, parks, and the Savannah River Site.[1]
Recommended management centers on the use of prescribed burning to maintain open woodland structure. Where burning is not possible, selective canopy thinning, mowing, or other low-intensity methods may help preserve suitable conditions. Intensive soil disturbance and herbicide treatments that damage native groundcover should be avoided.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Agrimonia incisa". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Weakley, Alan S.; Southeastern Flora Team (2026). "Agrimonia incisa". Flora of the Southeastern United States. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Weakley, Alan S.; Southeastern Flora Team (2026). "Key to Agrimonia". Flora of the Southeastern United States. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Agrimonia incisa Torr. & A.Gray". International Plant Names Index. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Herbarium. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
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