Buchnera floridana

Gandog.

Florida Bluehearts

G5Secure (G5?) Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Medium - lowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.135473
Element CodePDSCR0B040
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVascular Plant
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomPlantae
PhylumAnthophyta
ClassDicotyledoneae
OrderScrophulariales
FamilyOrobanchaceae
GenusBuchnera
Concept Reference
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2019. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 17: Magnoliophyta: Tetrachondraceae to Orobanchaceae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiv + 737 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
FNA (vol. 17, 2019) recognizes Buchnera americana and B. floridana as distinct species. In contrast, Kartesz (1994, 1999) included Buchnera floridana into B. americana.
Conservation Status
Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2
Review Date2025-05-02
Change Date2025-05-02
Edition Date2025-05-02
Edition AuthorsNordman, C. (2025).
Threat ImpactMedium - low
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank Reasons
Florida Bluehearts (Buchnera floridana) occurs in southeastern and southern North America, from southeastern North Carolina to Florida, Arkansas and Texas in the United States, and south in eastern Mexico from San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas to Chiapas, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. It is also reported from Belize, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago. It is estimated there are about 1500 occurrences rangewide. In the United States it is apparently most abundant in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas. Habitat loss and lack of fire are threats to existing populations. It occurs on the Apalachicola, Bienville, Conecuh, Croatan, De Soto, Francis Marion, Homochitto, Kisatchee, Ocala, Osceola, and Talladega National Forests, and on some other state and federal conservation lands.
Range Extent Comments
Florida Bluehearts (Buchnera floridana) occurs in southeastern and southern North America, from southeastern North Carolina to Florida, Arkansas and Texas in the United States, and south in eastern Mexico from San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas to Chiapas, Yucatan and Quintana Roo. It is also reported from Belize, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago (Villaseñor 2016, FNA 2019, POWO 2025, Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2025). Range extent was estimated to be about 7,500,000 square kilometers, using herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data collected between 1994 and 2025 (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2024).
Occurrences Comments
By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimens, photo-based observations, and NatureServe Network occurrence data documented between 1994 and 2025, it is estimated that there are about 1500 occurrences rangewide. In the United States it is apparently most abundant in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas (GBIF 2025, iNaturalist 2025, NatureServe 2025, RARECAT 2024).
Threat Impact Comments
Habitat loss is a threat to existing populations of Buchnera floridana. The lack of fire has led to rapid successional change in many sites, open pine woodlands or prairie areas have gradually developed into closed subcanopy or canopy forests. Without ongoing management practices that retain open conditions, many populations will likely decline further.
Ecology & Habitat

Diagnostic Characteristics

Buchnera floridana has "leaves with larger blades narrowly oblanceolate, lanceolate, or broadly linear, major veins 1, minor veins (0–)2, apex usually obtuse or rounded, margins entire or crenate, teeth 0.5–1.5 mm; corolla lobes 2–5 mm; calyces 4.5–5.5 mm", these features distinguish it from Buchnera americana in the United States (FNA 2019).

Habitat

Florida Bluehearts (Buchnera floridana) occurs in the southern United States in moist pine savannas, pine flatwoods, streamhead ecotones, seepage bogs, seepage slopes, pitcher-plant bogs, calcareous prairies (in the Black Belt of Mississippi and Alabama), and sandy roadsides, at elevations fro 0 to 150 meters (FNA 2019, Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2025).

Reproduction

In the southern United States, Florida Bluehearts (Buchnera floridana) flowers from April or May to October, and fruit from May to November (FNA 2019, Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2025).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest EdgeWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - ConiferWoodland - MixedSavannaGrassland/herbaceous
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDBog/fen
Other Nations (1)
United StatesNNR
ProvinceRankNative
GeorgiaS4Yes
ArkansasS1Yes
FloridaSNRYes
LouisianaSNRYes
North CarolinaS3Yes
TexasSNRYes
MississippiSNRYes
South CarolinaSNRYes
AlabamaSNRYes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
1 - Residential & commercial developmentSmall (1-10%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
1.1 - Housing & urban areasSmall (1-10%)Serious or 31-70% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7 - Natural system modificationsLarge - restrictedModerate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7.1 - Fire & fire suppressionLarge - restrictedModerate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)
7.1.2 - Suppression in fire frequency/intensityLarge - restrictedModerate or 11-30% pop. declineHigh (continuing)

Plant Characteristics
DurationBIENNIAL
Economic Value (Genus)No
Roadless Areas (3)
Florida (2)
AreaForestAcres
Gum BayApalachicola National Forest11,645
SavannahApalachicola National Forest1,927
South Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
Wambaw ExtFrancis Marion National Forest527
References (13)
  1. Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2019. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 17: Magnoliophyta: Tetrachondraceae to Orobanchaceae. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxiv + 737 pp.
  2. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). 2025. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data portal. Online. Available: https://www.gbif.org/ (accessed 2025).
  3. iNaturalist. 2025. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2025).
  4. Kartesz, J. T., and C. Meacham. 1998b. Unpublished review draft of Floristic Synthesis, 14 May 1998. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC.
  5. LeGrand, H., B. Sorrie, and T. Howard. 2025. Vascular Plants of North Carolina [Internet]. Raleigh (NC): North Carolina Biodiversity Project and North Carolina State Parks. Online. Available: https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/flora/index.php (accessed 2025).
  6. NatureServe. 2025. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
  7. NatureServe. Unpublished. Concept reference for taxa for which no reference which describes the circumscription has been recorded; to be used as a placeholder until such a citation is identified.
  8. Plants of the World Online (POWO). 2025. Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Online. Available: https://powo.science.kew.org/ (accessed 2025).
  9. <p>NatureServe's Rapid Analysis of Rarity and Endangerment Conservation Assessment Tool (RARECAT). 2025. Version: 2.1.1 (released April 04, 2025).</p>
  10. Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Univ. North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
  11. Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2025. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2025).
  12. Villaseñor, J.L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
  13. Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2025. Flora of the southeastern United States Web App. Edition of February 18, 2025. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Online. Available: https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu (accessed 2025).