14 December 2022.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Plants growing along the south side of Eglin AFB Choctaw Nolf Road northwest of Choctaw Navy Outlying Field. This road goes west and takes circuitous route to the north around the Field enroute to Escribano Point Wildlife Management Area. Common at the location; infrequent, otherwise.
Coordinates: 30.5153, -87.0056
(Map it)
Elevation: 2m.
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Trees are growing in full sun to part-shade in mesic habitat associate with a nearby wet depression, less than 0.2 meters above the high moisture zone. The trees also extend into slightly drier mesic to the marginally xeric zone.
Soils: The underlying geology of this area is classified as Alluvium, of Pleistocene/Holocene origin and consists of undifferentiated Quaternary sediments of varying thickness including siliciclastics, organics and freshwater carbonates. The siliciclastics are light gray, tan, brown to black, unconsolidated to poorly consolidated, clean to clayey, silty, unfossiliferous, variably organic-bearing sands to blue green to olive green, poorly to moderately consolidated, sandy, silty clays. Organics occur as plant debris, roots, disseminated organic matrix and beds of peat. Freshwater carbonates, often referred to as marls in the literature, are scattered.
The primary soil types in the collection area are classified as Leon Sand soils (0 to 2 percent slopes). The Leon Series consists of very deep, very poorly and poorly drained, moderately rapid to moderately slowly permeable soils on upland flats, depressions, stream terraces and tidal areas. They formed in sandy marine sediments of the Eastern Gulf Coast Flatwoods, the Atlantic Coast Flatwoods, and to a lesser extent in the Southern Coastal Plain, and the North-Central Florida Ridge. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. Leon series is comprised of 95%+ sand in the strata to 3+ meters deep.
Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx)
Number of plants sampled: 15
Associated species: Serenoa repens, Lyonia lucida, Vaccinium darrowii, Pteridium aquilinum, Quercus geminata, Pinus palustris, Pinus clausa, Smilax sp., Vaccinium ashei, Ilex glabra, Cartrema americana, Vaccinium arboreum, Smilax pumila, Rubus sp., Rhus copallinum, Pityopsis graminifolia
Comment: This species on this site is a single-stemmed (occasionally weakly multi-stemmed) deciduous tree, forming a weakly irregularly rounded spreading habit. Trees range in size from 5-12 meters tall x 3-5 meters wide. Most trees have lost their leaves; however, an occasional tree still retains leaves that are turn yellow-orange to red. Leaves are alternate and generally entire. Fruit are tiny ovoid sutured capsules borne terminally in panicles composed of arching-weeping racemes or secondary panicles. NOTE: This collector has seen many populations of Oxydendrum arboreum in the uplands and mountains of the southeastern U.S. Often these plants grow in dry, rocky habitats. For this reason, it is very intriguing to see this species is mesic conditions associated with wetlands in the deep south coastal plain areas. Perhaps, these provenances are worthy of evaluating for more fibrous root systems which could be better for field production of this species horticulturally.
Collector(s):