About Coleataenia abscissa (Swallen) LeBlond
Coleataenia abscissa is a rhizomatous perennial grass species, with stems that can reach up to 70 centimeters (2.3 feet) tall. Its leaves grow up to 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) long, and it has a very short ligule. Flowers are borne in small purple panicles, which grow both terminally and axillary on stems. Its spikelets measure only a few millimeters in length. Most of the species' annual growth takes place between March and June. It blooms most heavily following a fire, and very rarely blooms when no fire occurs. This grass grows in seepage bogs on the Lake Wales Ridge and other ridges in central Florida, a region noted for high plant endemism. It grows on moist slopes that receive moisture from higher elevation areas. It can be found near ponds in Florida scrub or other scrubby habitats, and in marshy flatwoods. Cutthroat grass communities are strongly dominated by the cutthroat grass species. These communities occur across a number of habitat types, but all depend on wildfire for natural maintenance. Fire maintains the open grassland by preventing the establishment of large woody vegetation. The most distinct cutthroat grass community is the cutthroat seepage slope, a set of microhabitat types defined by elevation and water table. Most individual populations of this plant are located within Polk and Highlands Counties in Florida. A large cutthroat grass community occurs in remaining native habitat at the Avon Park Air Force Range.
