Stillingia tenuis Small. Rockland Queen's Delight. Phen: Jan-Jun; Mar-Aug. Hab: Pine rocklands, mesic to wet pine flatwoods, and margins of marl prairies. Dist: Endemic to c. and s. FL.

Origin/Endemic status: Endemic

Taxonomy Comments: This entity, when recognized, has gone under the name S. sylvatica var. tenuis in recent literature. Confusion about application of names prevents this combination, as well as Small’s (1933) use of S. angustifolia, from being adopted here. Despite the fact that this entity is seldom genetically isolated from S. sylvatica populations north of Lake Okeechobee, we recognize it as distinct at the rank of species because of its consistent morphological differences from S. sylvatica (at least in the core of its range) and that it occupies a niche in s. FL pinelands that is not analogous with that of S. sylvatica. Stillingia tenuis is nearly absent from scrubby flatwoods and similar habitats in sw. FL – instead, it is most frequent in mesic to wet pinelands that may be sporadically inundated during the wet season. Populations of se. and sw. FL are not morphologically distinct. North of Collier and Miami-Dade Cos., non-introgressed populations of Stillingia tenuis are present only close to the coast.

Synonymy: = Horn (2022) in Weakley et al (2022); = Stillingia sylvatica Garden ex L. ssp. tenuis (Small) D.J.Rogers – K1, K3, Govaerts, Frodin, & Radcliffe-Smith (2000), Rogers (1951), misapplied; > Stillingia angustifolia (Müller of Aargau) Engelm. ex S.Watson – S, misapplied; < Stillingia sylvatica Garden ex L. – Fl2, FNA12, K4, WH3; > Stillingia tenuis Small – S

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