21 September 2022.
Kansas, United States
Locality: Coronado Heights Park, Smoky View, Kansas hillsides surrounding the historic WPA circa 1932 Coronado Heights Castle located about 91 meters above the surrounding land. This plant is scattered and infrequent on the slopes of this site.
Coordinates: 38.6107, -97.7041
(Map it)
Elevation: 448m.
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants growing in full sun, under extreme exposure, rocky, dry and thin soils of this short grass prairie habitat on the slopes surrounding the summit of Coronado Heights Park. Plants tend
Soils: The underlying geology of this area is of Upper Cretaceous origin and comprised of Kiowa Shale or FM- light -gray to black illitic shale with thin coquinoidal limestone beds at the base; sandstone lenses are common. Cheyenne Sandstone-massive to cross-bedded, light-gray to buff fine-grained sandstone with lenses to be found in runoff zones where moisture is temporarily more abundant.of gray sandy shale and conglomerate.
Source: USGS Kansas Geologic Map Data (https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=KSKkc%3B0)
The surface soil profile of this area is Lancaster-Hedville complex, 3 to 20 percent slopes. The Lancaster series consists of moderately deep, well drained soils that formed in residuum from sandstone and sandy shales; it can be up to 200 cm deep. Slopes range from 1-20%. Hedville soils have bedrock within 50 centimeters of the surface and occur on similar hillslope positions.
Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx)
Number of plants sampled: 1
Associated species: Artemisia ludoviciana, Asclepias tuberosa, Bouteloua curtipendula, Celtis occidentalis, Cenchrus longispinus, Echinacea angustifolium, Euphorbia marginata, Gleditsia triacanthos, Gutierrezia sarothrae, Helianthus annus, Helianthus pauciflorus, Juniperus virginiana, Lespedeza capitata, Liatris punctata, Mirabilis nyctaginea, Panicum virgatum, Phytolacca americana, Populus deltoides, Prunus angustifolia, Rhus aromatica, Rhus aromatica, Rhus glabra, Rosa arkansana, Salix sp., Salvia azurea, Schizachyrium scoparium, Solanum rostratum, Solidago rigida, Solidago sp., Sporobolus compositus, Swida drummondii, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, Symphyotrichum falcatum, Tephrosia virginiana, Toxicodendron radicans, Yucca glauca
Comment: This species is a small to medium-sized tree with a rounded habit; mature specimens range in size from 5-10 meters tall and wide. The bark of mature trees is dark gray and deeply furrowed with narrow ridges. Leaves are odd pinnately-compound, opposite, and deciduous. The overall length of compound leaves ranges from 16-22 cm long; Leaves generally have 7 (5-9) leaflets that are ovate to lanceolate, lustrous green above and pale to whitish beneath. Fruit borne in panicle-like inflorescences sub-terminally in large drooping clusters on branches. Fruit is a samara, straw-colored at maturity, lanceolate, and 3-5 cm long.
Collector(s):