(Stachys: Lamiaceae) from the - Botanical Research Institute of Texas

Fleming et al., A new species of Stachys from the southeastern United States 13
Fig. 4. County distribution of Stachys matthewsii specimens in Virginia and North Carolina.
competitive with taller, ruderal perennials. Plants growing in a formerly cleared floodplain now invaded by
young trees have become progressively shade-stressed and do not flower. A periodically mowed powerline
swale with short to medium-height herbaceous vegetation appears to represent optimal habitat for the species,
supporting a population with hundreds of flowering plants. Perhaps the combination of shade-intolerance
and poor competitive abilities, as well as low levels of botanical inventory in the Piedmont, accounts for the
relatively low number of known populations, despite an abundance of seemingly suitable habitat in the region.
Notes on the Distribution of Stachys matthewsii
there is precedence for the somewhat disjunct distribution of populations of stachys matthewsii between the
north carolina - Virginia Piedmont and calcareous habitats of the Virginia coastal Plain. Previous investigations
by ware and ware (1992) and macdonald (2000) point to numerous species of primarily Piedmont
and mountain distribution with outlying populations in or adjacent to coastal ravine complexes underlain
by the calcareous Yorktown and eastover formations. these Pliocene deposits, due to their highly erodible
nature, have allowed for the creation of relatively dramatic ravine complexes within the otherwise slightly
undulating and acidic landscape of the tidewater region. it is widely assumed that the disjuncts present in
or near such ravines are relics of early holocene climates, when species now confined to montane habitats
were more broadly distributed in Virginia (delcourt & delcourt 1986). while stachys matthewsii is not confined
to these steep - sided erosional features, the presence of populations immediately adjacent to them
on shelly substrates (and nowhere else in the region) certainly points to relictual distribution as a possible
factor involved in their presence.