Lepuropetalon spathulatum

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Species Distribution Map
Family:CELASTRACEAE
Species:Lepuropetalon spathulatum Muhl. ex Elliott
Common Name:Little People; Petite Plant
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Annual
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:**
Plant Notes:Little People is a winter annual in the Grass of Bittersweet family (CELASTRACEAE). It has been collected in the southern third of Alabama. Little People occurs on roadsides, in cemeteries, in lawns, and around the margins of rock outcrops. It has a preference for slightly disturbed sites with moist sandy soil and full sun. It is one of, if not the smallest flowering terrestrial plants. It is often no more than 1 or 2 mm in height and 3-5 mm in diameter. Some plants are even smaller, consisting of only a few leaves and a single flower. The leaves are alternate or subopposite in arrangement, sessile, and spathulate in shape. They form a small rosette. The leaves are greenish-yellow in color and have small rows of golden or reddish dots (when viewed with appropriate magnification). Flowers are produced at the apex of the stems, slightly above the leaves. The flowers have five large sepals that form a cup-like structure around the rest of the flower. The petals are white but very small and scale-like. They may be absent. There are five stamens. The fruit is a capsule with many small reddish-black seed. Little People is listed as an S1 species in Alabama (typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in the state), and Globally as a G4 species (imperiled globally because of rarity (6 - 20 occurrences, or few remaining acres, or miles of stream) or very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range because of other factors). Little People is likely more common than reports indicate, but because of its small size it is very easily overlooked.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Native, S1 (State Rank), G4 (Global Rank)
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyCELASTRACEAE - Bittersweet family
Genus Lepuropetalon
Species Lepuropetalon spathulatum Muhl. ex Elliott - Little People; Petite Plant

Citation

Citation Lepuropetalon spathulatum Muhlenberg ex Elliott, Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1(4): 370. 1817.
Basionym: **
Type: SOUTH CAROLINA:

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Cryptopetalum pusillum Cryptopetalum pusillum Hooker & Arnott, in Hooker, Bot. Misc. 3: 345. 1833. TYPE: CHILE:
Lepuropetalon pusillum Lepuropetalon pusillum (Hooker & Arnott) C. Gay, Fl. CHil. 3: 42. 1848.BASIONYM: Cryptopetalum pusillum Hooker & Arnott 1833. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Butler, Choctaw, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Lee, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Sumter

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, AUA, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1879 - 1989

Barcode / Accession No. County Coll. Date Collector &
Collection No.		 Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used		 Image
USAM000014291 Mobile 30 Mar 1976 LeLong, Michel G.
9073		 USAM
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
ALNHS00004534 Mobile 07 Mar 2017 Barger, T. Wayne
SP#2930		 ALNHS
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
UWAL0036636 Mobile 12 Mar 2017 Horne, Howard E.
3724		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
TROY000032613 Marengo 02 Apr 2009 England, J. Kevin
1825		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
AUA_ACC_64751 Mobile 25 Mar 1973 Taylor, John
12711		 AUA
Lepuropetalon Spathulatum Ell.
AUA_ACC_7020 Lee 14 Apr 1960 Jones, Jr., Samuel B.
 AUA
Lepuropetalon Spathulatum Ell.
UWAL0019673 Butler 28 Mar 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
26063		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
UWAL0039212 Montgomery 26 Feb 2019 Diamond, Alvin R.
28755		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
TROY000042343 Butler 28 Mar 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
26063		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
UNA00014825 Mobile 04 Apr 1879 Mohr, Charles
s.n.		 UNA
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
UWAL0017508 Crenshaw 29 Mar 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
26075		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
TROY000042284 Crenshaw 29 Mar 2015 Diamond, Alvin R.
26075		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
UWAL0004040 Marengo 02 Apr 2009 England, J. Kevin
1825		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
UNA00021906 Sumter 28 Mar 1989 Bowers, Frank D.
16644		 UNA
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
USAM000014292 Mobile 19 Mar 1976 LeLong, Michel G.
8996		 USAM
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
TROY000047517 Montgomery 26 Feb 2019 Diamond, Alvin R.
28755		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
TROY000043884 Conecuh 09 Mar 2016 Diamond, Alvin R.
27231		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
UWAL0004041 Monroe 04 Mar 2007 Keener, Brian R.
3350.1		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
UWAL0004042 Sumter 13 Apr 2009 Keener, Brian R.
5170		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
TROY000051664 Mobile 16 Mar 2017 Horne, Howard E.
3728		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
TROY000029412 Choctaw 05 Mar 2009 Keener, Brian R.
5056		 TROY
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Elliott
UWAL0004039 Choctaw 05 Mar 2009 Keener, Brian R.
5056		 UWAL
Lepuropetalon spathulatum Ell.
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