Llutxent 1 month postfire
In early August a wildfire ignited by a lightning burned about 3200 ha, affecting mainly the municipalities of Lutxent, Gandia and Pinet (in Valencia, Spain). One month later I visited the area, and below are the main plant species that were already resprouting. There were also two species already flowering, both geophytes: Urginea (Drimia) maritima and Scilla autumnalis; they showed flowers but not the leaves (they are protanthous: flowering before the foliage appears [1]). There were also many seedling germination from the seedbank, but they were too small to identify.
The area affected by the fire include a small marginal population of Quercus suber (cork oak; el surar de Pinet) that we had studied few years ago [2]. This oak was also resprouting (epicormically).
(click to the photo to enlarge)
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- Urginea maritima, 1 month
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- Scilla autumnalis, 1 month
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- Smilax aspera
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- Daphne gnidium
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- Quercus coccifera
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- Pistacia lentiscus
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- Globularia alypum
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- Phillyrea angustifolia
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- Erica scoparia
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- Pteridium aquilinum
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- Quercus suber
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- Fraxinus ornus
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- Chamaerops humils
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- Lonicera implexa
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- Thymus piperella
Notes and references
[1] The terminology of the flower/leaf phenology is a bit confusing; here is my understanding following Simpson (Plant Systematics, 2011) and Lamont & Downes (2011, Pl. Ecol. 212):
· Synanthous (syn= same time): flowers and leaves develop at the same time
· Hysteranthous: flowering occurring out of phase with leafing
· Protanthous (pro= early): flowers develop before the leaves
· Seranthous (ser= delayed): flowers develop after the leaves
[2] Pausas J.G., Ribeiro E., Dias S.G., Pons J. & Beseler C. 2006. Regeneration of a marginal Cork oak (Quercus suber) forest in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Journal of Vegetation Science 17: 729-738. [pdf | doi | wiley]
More on postfire flowering | Quercus suber (cork oak)
Thanks to E. Laguna for his help on the species identification.