01 August 2022.
Monroe County, Alabama, United States
Locality: Haines Island Park at the foot of a tall Tallahatta cuesta bluff.
Coordinates: 31.7221, -87.4667
(Map it)
Elevation: 64m.
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Growing in part shade under well-drained conditions on rocks at the base of the bluff. The underlying geology of this area is Claiborne Group, Tallahatta Formation, of Eocene origin, with white to very light-greenish-gray thin-bedded to massive siliceous claystone; interbedded with thin layers of fossiliferous clay, sandy clay, and glauconitic sand and sandstone.
Number of plants sampled: 31
Associated species: Cornus alternifolia, Rubus sp., Carya glabra, Bignonia capreolata, Solidago caesia, Muscadinia rotundifolia, Lindera benzoin, Styrax americanus, Ilex opaca, Actaea pachypoda, Carpinus caroliniana, Hexastylis arifolia, Liquidambar styraciflua, Decumaria barbara, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Hydrangea arborescens, Tilia americana, Magnolia macrophylla, Magnolia grandiflora, Symplocos tinctoria, Aralia spinosa, Hydrangea quercifolia, Liriodendron tulipifera, Platanus occidentalis, Toxicodendron radicans, Smilax sp., Quercus hemisphaerica, Quercus michauxii, Quercus alba, Kalmia latifolia, Fagus grandifolia, Panax quinquefolius, Carex sp., Arisaema dracontium, Polystichum acrostichoides, Illicium floridanum, Pinus taeda, Halesia diptera, Phegopteris hexagonoptera
Comment: This is a multi-stemmed, deciduous, rhizomatous shrub with an upright spreading habit. Plants observed, range in size from 0.5-5 meters tall. Leaves are opposite, palmately compound with 5-7 leaflets, finely serrated on the leaflet margins and 10-20 cm long. Foliage is green to dark green above and lighter beneath. Fruit is a pear-shaped capsule, 10 to 15 cm long, bearing 1-2 light brown seeds when ripe and born terminally on a long peduncle, typically bearing 1-5 fruit. Fruit production is frequently sparse on plants, due to deep shade conditions.
Collector(s):