Ceratiola Research Articles

Volatiles from litter and soil associated with Ceratiola ericoides

Litter of Ceratiola ericoides and soil associated with this shrub were analysed for their volatiles by dynamic headspace sampling, followed by GC-MS identification. In litter volatiles, 1-octene, 3-octanol and 1-pentanol were most prevalent, while aliphatic alcohols and ketones were most abundant in soil. The major classes of volatiles, in both litter and soil, were aliphatic alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, and lesser amounts of benzenoids, monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.

ROSEMARY HILL OBSERVATORY LUNAR OCCULTATION SUMMARY FOR 1983-1984

ABSTRACT The results from photometric observations of twenty-one previously unreported occultation disappearances obtained during the period 1983 March 24 through 1984 March 12 with the University of Florida's Rosemary Hill Observatory 76-cm reflecting telescope are presented. Statistically significant determinations of stellar diameters are indicated for two stars; 32 Librae (12.2 mas) and BD +22 1032 (5.45 mas). Diameter measurements of marginal staistical significance are noted for two other stars (9 Cancri and 37 Capricorni). New duplicity determinations are reported for five stellar systems in this sample.

Volatile compounds from leaves of Ceratiola ericoides by dynamic headspace sampling

Ceratiola ericoides is a shrub endemic to the Florida scrub community and has been investigated in conjunction with studies of allelopathic interactions that affect members of the adjacent sandhill community. Headspace volatiles of C. ericoides leaves collected in spring, summer and autumn were adsorbed on Tenax TA, thermally desorbed, cryogenically refocused, and identified by GC-MS. In spring leaves, hydrocarbons were most prevalent, while alcohols, aldehydes and ketones were most abundant in summer leaves. Esters were the major components in autumn leaves.

Allelopathic actions in the Florida scrub community

The hypothesis that allelochemicals released from members of the Florida scrub community deter the invasion of fire-prone sandhill grasses was investigated. Constituents of the endemic scrub members, Ceratiola ericoides, Conradina canescens and Calamintha ashei, were examined for their phytotoxic activity. Effects of the plant natural products on the germination and radicle growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa), as well as little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and green sprangletop (Leptochloa dubia), two native grasses of the Florida sandhill community, were tested.The data suggest that ursolic acid and other natural detergents which are released from a source plant enhance the solubilization of allelopathic lipids via micellization. In general, natural surfactants seem to play a significant role in the water transport of lipophilic phytotoxins to target seeds or seedlings.

Synthesis of Ceratiolin, a Constituent of Ceratiola ericoides

Abstract Ceratiolin, a constituent of Ceratiola ericoides was synthesized by the methylation of 2′,3′,4′,6′-tetrahydroxydihydrochalcone, prepared by the Hoesch reaction of 1,2,3,5-benzenetetrol with 3-phenylpropionitrile. Furthermore, it was proved that ceratiolin easily forms by the oxidation of 2′,4′,6′-trihydroxy-3′,5′-dimethyldihydrochalcone.

Records for the Rosemary Grasshopper, Schistocerca ceratiola Hubbell and Walker, in North Florida (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Hubbell & Walker (1928) described the rosemary grasshopper, Schistocerca ceratiola, based on collections from Orlando (TYPE LOCALITY) and Apopka in Orange County, Altamonte Springs in Seminole County, and Tavares in Lake County. Their specimens were found in association with rosemary bushes, Ceratiola ericoides, growing in scrub habitats. Dirsh (1974) provided a distribution map that called attention to additional records from Hernando, Marion, Polk, Putnam, and Volusia counties. The northernmost records shown on this map included two sites near Palatka along the St. John River in Putnam County and two sites near Ocala in Marion County. On 1 September 1983, Robert E. Woodruff and one of us (RF) obtained a large series of this grasshopper on rosemary bushes at the Breezeway Pond site in the Smith Lake Sand Hill area of the Katharine Ordway Preserve-Swisher Memorial Sanctuary, near Melrose, Putnam County, Florida. Grasshoppers were found in association with an Evergreen Shrub habitat, characterized by rosemary, Myrica cerifera, Lyonia lucida, Ilex glabra, and Vaccinium arboreum. This peculiar habitat forms narrow bands around the Breezeway Pond and other temporary and permanent clear water ponds and lakes on the property. Voucher specimens from this infestation are deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), Gainesville, Florida. Subsequent searches for these grasshoppers on rosemary bushes at the Preserve, near Johnson in Putnam County, and in the vicinity of Gold Head Branch State Park and Keystone Heights in southwestern Clay County (approximately 14 km N of the Preserve) in 1984 showed this distinctive grasshopper to be extremely common on southern Trail Ridge and the adjoining, but more southerly, Interlachen Karstic Highland in the northeentral portion of the Florida peninsula. Although these records only extend the known range of S. ceratiola about 35 km NW of the Palatka and 80 km NNE of the Ocala collections, they place this unusual grasshopper on the geologically unique Trail Ridge. This feature, developed as a series of N-S trending sand ridges that parallel the western shore of the St. Johns River, extends southward from southeastern Georgia and merges with the xeric Interlachen Karstic Highland near the town of Interlachen. These droughty ridges are forested with upland communities dominated by High Pine habitats and are isolated from reported sites near Palatka and Ocala by wetter flatwoods habitats that lack rosemary plants. Between 1985-1986, we located additional sites (see SPECIFIC RECORDS) for this grasshopper in Lake, Marion, and Orange counties. Efforts to collect grasshoppers at appropriate sites in Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties were unsuccessful. We revisited rosemary sites examined by Hubbell and Walker in Alachua (near Archer) and Levy (Cedar Keys) counties and, like them, failed to locate specimens. We found S. ceratiola only in associaion with rosemary bushes. At Gold Head Branch State Park in Clay County and sites in Putnam County, grasshoppers occurred in areas of High Pine (or Sandhill) vegetation while those from the Ocala National Forest in Lake County, and from Rock Springs and Mt. Plymouth in Orange County were at sites dominated by Sand Pine Scrub.

Allelopathic Effects of Shrubs of the Sand Pine Scrub on Pines and Grasses of the Sandhills

Abstract Aqueous leachates prepared monthly from foliage of eight species and from litter of two of them from Florida's sand pine scrub community were tested for potential inhibitory activity on four receiver species: three grasses native to Florida's sandhill community (Andropogon gyrans, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Leptochloa dubia) and commercial lettuce (Lactuca sativa). Seed germination of the grasses was inhibited significantly by all ten leachates. Inhibition varied with month of preparation of the samples and was highly correlated with monthly precipitation. However, only two of ten leachates significantly inhibited radicle growth of the grasses, with a seasonal peak in late spring before the rainy season. Leachates from species dominant on open scrub sites were much more inhibitory than those from mature scrub. Lettuce seed germination was inhibited significantly, whereas radicle length was stimulated; neither effect exhibited significant seasonal variation. Andropogon gyrans watered with runoff from leaf misting of potted Ceratiola ericoides and Conradina canescens had significantly lower dry weights than control seedlings receiving distilled water. In a field transplant experiment designed to control resource competition, seedling pines (P. palustris, P. elliottii, P. clausa) and plugs of wiregrass (Aristida stricta) grew more slowly at scrub sites than at sandhill sites. Chemicals released from the shrubs may deter pines and grasses that otherwise provide fuel for surface fires which cause shrub mortality. For. Sci. 34(3):592-605.

Ceratiolin and other flavonoids from Ceratiola ericoides

Chemical analysis of ground aerial parts of Ceratiola ericoides yielded the two known dihydrochalcones angoletin and 2′,6′-dihydroxy-4-methoxy-3′,5′-dimethyldihydrochalcone, as well as 2′,4′-dihydroxychalcone. Furthermore, the known flavanones 7-hydroxyflavanone, 8-methylpinocembrin and 6,8-dimethylpinocembrin were isolated. Methanol extracts of ground leaves provided catechin, epicatechin and epicatechin-(4β → 8; 2β → 0 → 7)-epicatechin. From water washes of freshly harvested leaves a novel dihydrochalcone, ceratiolin, was isolated. The structures were inferred from NMR, mass spectral and chemical data, and the molecular structure of 6,8-dimethylpinocembrin was determined by single crystal X-ray analysis.

Comparison of Biomass Recovery after Fire of a Seeder (Ceratiola ericoides) and a Sprouter (Quercus inopina) Species from South-Central Florida

Scrub oak (Quercus inopina) and Florida rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides) are two evergreen shrubs which dominate adjacent stands of Florida scrub at Archbold Biological Station in S-central Florida. After fire the clonal oak resprouts from a rhizome, whereas rosemary is killed and must reestablish from seed. To compare biomass allocation and recovery after fire in this seeder and sprouter species, we excavated eight oak clones and 18 rosemary shrubs representing the range of sizes present. Regression equations to estimate biomass from measured dimensions were developed from the harvested shrubs and used to obtain stand biomass of each species at sites of increasing age postfire. Aboveground vs. belowground biomass allocation was 30:700% in oak and 80:200% in rosemary. Percent of total biomass allocated to leaves is similar in the largest shrubs of each species (8-10%). After ca. 30 years postfire the biomass of the rosemary stands (1400 g/m2) nearly equalled the average biomass of the oak stands (1500 g/m2).

Ecological Survey of a Florida Scrub

Botanically, the Florida scrub is one of the most interesting and weird of plant associations. Economically, the plants, as well as the soil, have almost no importance. The nearly pure white sand of the ground surface, when viewed from a short distance, gives the impression of a thin rift of wind-driven snow. The vegetation is mostly dwarfed, gnarled and crooked, and presents a tangled, scraggly aspect. It appears to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing in its solution of life's grim riddle. Here live the rosemary (Ceratiola ericoides),1 spruce pine (Pinl is claui-sa), poor grub (Xolisata fci-rruginea) and their associates rooted in a bed of silica, to which the term soil is but remotely applicable. Here the sun sheds its glare and takes its toll of the unfit. In connection with the campaign against the Mediterranean fruit fly in Florida, 1929-30, a great many ecological plant surveys were made in various parts of the state by O'Neill and his associates; the work here reported was an intensive study of a small section of the broad field somewhat hastily covered by them. Three types of plant associations were considered in the study, but results secured on the scrub only are given here. The scrub association was recognized as a distinct type of vegetation in the early floristic and soil studies of Florida, and was probably first described by Vignoles (I823). It was, however, overlooked by Williams (1827) and Smith (i884) in their discussions of the soils and vegetation of the state. Nash (i895) distinguished 5 floral areas (high pine) land, scrub, low pine land, bayheads, and hammocks), and described in some detail the vegetation of each. He concluded that a definite antagonism existed between the plants on the scrub and the adjacent high pine, and called attention to the fact that there is no intermingling of the species peculiar to the two associations. He lists a few of the more abundant forms on the scrub, and notes the complete absence of grasses. Nash made the very interesting observation that scrub vegetation has no special provision for the prevention of death by fire. The high pine plants generally have some means of avoiding such a fate. \Vhitney (i898) briefly compares the high pine vegetation with that of the scrub, enmphasizing the sudden transition from one to the other, and states that fromn chemical and physical analyses there is no manifest reason for the difference observed. The topography is likewise dismissed as a factor.