English: American chaffseed
Genus: 1 species.
Region: southeastern United States.
Habitat: open, wet acidic grasslands; sandy, acidic, seasonally moist to dry soils; moist pine flatwoods, pine and wiregrass savannas, ecotonal areas between peaty wetlands and xeric sandy soils; habitats maintained by human or lightning-caused wildfires.
Culture: endangered due to fire control.
BotanyHerb; perennial; erect, ± 50 cm high; hemiparasitic on roots of many trees, shrubs, and herbs; requires fire for long-term viability, the minute seeds germinate in the mineral soil under full sun without litter and competing vegetation.
Flowers: flowers from April to June.
Pollination: by bees.
Fruits: capsule; brown; dry; dehiscent; narrowly oval-shaped, coarse, thickened to insulates from fire, about 1 cm long.
Seeds: numerous, flat, winged.