Paronychia chartacea

This record is for Paronychia chartacea in the narrow sense, excluding P. minima as a distinct species, as recognized by Schenk and Appleton (2021) and Weakley (2023). In contrast, Hartman et al. in FNA (2005, vol. 5) treated P. chartacea in a broad sense with two varieties, var. chartacea and var. minima. Kartesz (1994, 1999) similarly treated the taxa at the infraspecific level, but as subspecies.

This species is endemic to the central ridge of Florida in the southeastern United States, where it occurs in Highlands, Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties. There are an estimated 50 to 60 extant occurrences. Paper Nailwort occurs in a limited range, requires open sand habitat within Florida scrub and sandhill, and appropriate fire return intervals to maintain habitat patchiness and sandy openings. The Lake Wales Ridge area is heavily fragmented by development, citrus groves, cattle ranches, and mining operations, contributing to a long-term decrease of more than 80 percent of the scrub habitat.

The species is endemic to the central ridge of Florida occurring in Highlands, Lake, Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties, Florida, USA. Using occurrences in the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) database as of January 2026, RARECAT (2025) calculated range extent to be 3902 square kilometers (FNAI 2026).

Using occurrences in the Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) database as of January 2026, there are currently 76 extant locations, which may be considered 50 to 60 occurrences. A number of these are in fair or poor condition and due to low rank or limited protection are not included in the estimate (FNAI 2026).

The main threats for the species are land conversion to residential/commercial development, fire exclusion in appropriate habitat and conversion to agriculture. Although numerous occurrences are on protected land, they often occur on the edge of firebreaks or roads, where they are subject to various land management practices (FNAI 2026). Invasive or non-native plant species, such as tanglehead (Heteropogon contortus) and rose natalgrass (Melinis repens ssp. repens) can be serious competitors on sandy roadsides or firebreaks. Natural communities (e.g. Florida scrub, sandhill) where fire is excluded or at an inappropriate return interval, will typically succeed to dense oak associations, where herb cover is greatly reduced and a mosaic of sandy openings is lost (Peroni and Abrahamson 1986).