About Polygonella myriophylla (Small) Horton
Polygonella myriophylla (Small) Horton is a mat-forming subshrub that spreads along the ground, reaching up to 2 meters in length. Its sprawling branches have shreddy bark, and it bears needle-like leaves less than one centimeter long. It produces small inflorescences holding individual white, pink, or yellow flowers that measure just 1 to 2 millimeters long. This species can reproduce both sexually via seeds and vegetatively through cloning. It performs allelopathy, releasing chemicals including gallic acid and hydroquinone to stop other plants from growing in close proximity to it. Flower visitors to this species include the bee Dialectus placidensis, the shore fly Allotrichoma abdominalis, and the ceraunus blue hairstreak butterfly Hemiargus ceraunus. This plant is a component of the Florida scrub plant community. It grows in dry white-sand scrub dominated by Florida rosemary, as well as oak scrub, flatwoods, roadsides, and occasionally on sandhills. Major threats to this species include habitat destruction from conversion of its range to residential and agricultural property, especially citrus groves. Fire suppression also harms the plant, as it is adapted to a wildfire-dependent habitat. As of 2010, there were 140 known occurrences of this species. Estimating the total number of individual plants is difficult, because many apparent separate individuals may actually be clones from a single genetic individual.
