10 December 2022.
Clay County, Georgia, United States
Locality: East side of Georgia State Hwy. 39, on the south side of Kolomoki Creek approximately 11 kilometers south of Fort Gaines, Georgia. Common on this site, but otherwise infrequent. This species is near the southernmost end of its natural range.
Coordinates: 31.5205, -85.0235
(Map it)
Elevation: 53m.
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants are growing in part-shade to shade of deciduous upland, dry, deciduous woodlands on steep slopes 10-15 meters above Kolomoki Creek.
Soils: The underlying geology of this area is of Paleocene origin and characterized as Tuscahoma Sand. As mapped this formation includes lower Eocene Bashi Marl Member of the Hatchetigbee Formation. This formation consists of light-gray to light-olive-gray laminated and thin-bedded carbonaceous silt and clay interbedded with fine sand; thin lignite beds occur locally. Lower part of the formation includes beds of fossiliferous, glauconitic fine quartz sand containing spheroidal sandstone concretions, gravel and clay pebbles.
Source: USGS Georgia Geologic Map Data (https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=GANu%3B1)
The primary soil types in the collection area are classified as Ailey-Cowarts Complex Series soils (8 to 25 percent slopes). The Ailey Series consists of well drained or somewhat excessively drained soils formed by fluviomarine and marine deposits. These soils are found marine terraces and low hills of the upper coastal plain and sandhills; they are strongly acidic. The Cowarts Series consists of very deep, moderately well and well drained soils on ridge tops and side slopes on uplands of the Coastal Plain Major Land Resource Area. They formed in loamy marine sediments. Slopes range from 1 to 60 percent.
Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx)
Number of plants sampled: 50
Associated species: Quercus alba, Magnolia grandiflora, Magnolia pyramidata, Halesia diptera, Ostrya virginiana, Carpinus caroliniana, Carya sp., Arundinaria gigantea, Dichanthelium sp., Liriodendron tulipifera, Smilax walteri, Hexastylis arifolia, Persea borbonia, Asimina parviflora, Pinus taeda, Acer floridanum, Fagus grandifolia, Ilex opaca, Ditrysinia fruticosa, Quercus nigra, Mitchella repens, Dioscorea quaternata, Hamamelis virginiana, Vaccinium arboreum, Acer rubrum, Smilax pumila, Polystichum acrostichoides, Ulmus sp., Vaccinium elliottii, Symplocos tinctoria, Bignonia capreolata, Magnolia macrophylla, Kalmia latifolia, Vitis sp., Juniperus virginiana, Quercus sp., Calycanthus floridus, Pinus glabra, Tilia americana, Campsis radicans, Robinia pseudoacacia, Toxicodendron radicans, Solidago caesia, Aesculus parviflora, Rhapidophyllum hystrix, Diospyros virginiana, Liquidambar styraciflua, Gelsemium sempervirens, Nyssa sylvatica, Tillandsia usneoides, Chasmanthium sessiliflorum, Sassafras albidum, Crataegus sp., Callicarpa americana, Erythrina herbacea, Rhus typhina, Cartrema americana, Hypericum sp.
Comment: This species is a multi-stemmed, rhizomatous, broadleaved evergreen shrub with an irregularly rounded to upright irregular open habit. At maturity this shrub is approximately 2-4 meters tall x 2-3 meters wide. Leaves persistent, thick and coriaceous, medium green above, and often with scattered ferruginous glandular scales beneath. Leaves are oval to sometimes ovate and approximately 4.5-8 cm long × 1-5 cm wide, usually with an acute or acuminate tip. Capsules borne in clusters on erect pedicels, approximately 10-20 mm long × 3-5 mm wide, with ferruginous, peltate scales. Notes: This Kolomoki Creek population of Rhododendron minus sampled is of particular interest for being white-flowered to very rarely pale blush pink. This characteristic is highly unusual within Rhododendron minus, generally, and especially unusual to see uniformly in a rather large population and at the extreme southern end of the range for this species. Occasionally, this species has been described as “scraggling” in the literature. This term is not at all typical of the plants seen in this population or other populations visited in the southern end of the range.
Collector(s):