12 September 2022.
Williamsburg City County, Virginia, United States
Locality: In Colonial Williamsburg, park in the Providence Hall Directors Wing parking lot and enter the Bassett Trace Nature Trail; this species is found in the woodlands on either side of the trail and over a bridge until the it turns right. This plant is infrequent, but occasionally found in the mesic woodlands throughout this location.
Coordinates: 37.2668, -76.6925
(Map it)
Elevation: 21m.
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants growing in shade to part-shade of the mixed deciduous and evergreen mesic woodland. This species is generally growing in areas with an abundant organic, mature woodland that is relatively undisturbed.
The underlying geology of this area is Windsor Formation of Tertiary-Quaternary origin (lower Pleistocene or upper Pliocene). It is comprised of gray and yellowish- to reddish-brown sand, gravel, silt, and clay. It constitutes surficial deposits of extensive plain and fluvial-estuarine terraces above elevations of 10 meters. The thickness of the Windsor Formation is 0 to 12.5 meters.
Source: USGS Virginia Geologic Map Data (https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=VAQTw%3B0)
The surface soil profile of this area is Emporia Complex, 15 to 25 percent slopes. This soil as moderately well-drained, acidic, and found on sloping and elevated terraces. They are comprised of fine sandy loam, loam, and sandy clay loam in varying quantities across the profile; the depth to parent geology is approximately 200 cm.
Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx)
Number of plants sampled: 7
Associated species: Acer rubrum, Amelanchier sp., Arundinaria gigantea, Asimina triloba, Bignonia capreolata, Callicarpa americana, Carpinus caroliniana, Carya glabra, Cercis canadensis, Chasmanthium sessiliflorum, Cornus florida, Desmodium sp., Diospyros virginiana, Fagus grandifolia, Fraxinus americana, Gaylussacia baccata, Hexastylis virginica, Ilex opaca, Juniperus virginiana, Lindera benzoin, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera, Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia tripetala, Mitchella repens, Morella cerifera, Oxydendrum arboreum, Packera sp., Parthenocissus quinquefolius, Pinus taeda, Polystichum acrostichoides, Quercus alba, Quercus marilandica, Quercus nigra, Robinia pseudoacacia, Sassafras albidum, Smilax sp., Stewartia ovata, Taxodium distichum, Toxicodendron radicans, Ulmus americana, Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium pallidum, Viburnum acerifolium
Comment: Plants at this location are upright, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrubs with narrow to irregular spreading habit. Almost all stems are dark green with the oldest stems having patches of tan; youngest stems are 4-angled. Plants range from 1.5-2.5 meters tall x 0.5-1.0 meter wide. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple and ovate to lanceolate ranging in size from 3-10 cm long x 1-3 cm wide. Leaf margins are crenate-serrate. Fruit is a capsule, pink at maturity, sub-globose, 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter and unlobed to 4-5 lobed. Fruit has a spiny surface. At maturity the capsule opens to reveal the red arils attached inside.
Collector(s):