16 January 2023.
Cape May County, New Jersey, United States
Locality: Plants growing in woodlands on the south side of a powerline right-of-way approximately 0.72 kilometers southwest of Indian Trail Road. The site was accessed by foot. Plants are infrequent at this site and considered rare in New Jersey.
Coordinates: 39.0565, -74.8748
(Map it)
Elevation: 5m.
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants growing in shade to part-shade of a dry woodland habitat that is mostly deciduous. Nearby, as the elevation changes slightly, there is more abundant soil moisture, becoming a bit more mesic. Soils: The underlying geology of this area is of Upper Pliocene origin and characterized as an Unnamed Formation at Cape May. It is comprised of interbedded gravel, sand, and clay, massive to thickly-bedded. This is an informal unit described from a core hole at the Cape May Airport. The lower 18.3 meters consists of interbedded gravel; medium- to very coarse grained, poorly sorted sand; and thin to thick beds of medium- to dark-gray, very woody clay. Gravel clasts are typically less than 0.64 mm in diameter. The upper 12.2 meters consists of a thick-bedded, medium-gray, extensively bioturbated clay-silt, which is overlain by an extensively burrowed, fine- to medium-grained glauconitic (about 5 percent) quartz sand. Quartz and siliceous rock fragments compose most sand grains. Feldspar is present in most samples but usually constitutes less than 10 percent of the sand fraction. No calcareous macrofossils were found in the burrowed intervals. This unit is known only to occur on the Cape May peninsula where it lies within a large channel. The unit is about 60 m in maximum thickness. The contact with the underlying Belleplain Member of the Kirkwood Formation is sharp and unconformable; a basal gravel bed as much as 1 m thick is present along the contact. The pollen assemblage in the lower part of the unit is dominated by pine and oak with somewhat lesser amounts of hickory and basswood. Spruce, hemlock, beech, alder, and black gum are minor constituents. Traces of fir, willow, birch, and sweet gum are present, as is exotic Engelhardia. The non-arboreal pollen are a Multisia-type composite of the present-day Andean provenance which indicate an exotic cool climate. The lower assemblage suggests a cool-temperate climatic regimen. The pollen assemblage in the upper beds is dominated by oak and hickory with minor amounts of basswood, sweet gum, pine, and Multisia-type composite. Traces of cedar, willow, birch, alder, grass, and Sphagnum spores also are present. This assemblage probably represents a temperate climatic regimen (Les Sirkin, Adelphi University, written commun., 1991). The low percentage of exotic species is characteristic of the late Pliocene, and therefore, the unnamed unit at Cape May could be equivalent to the Beaverdam Formation of the Delmarva Peninsula of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Source: USGS New Jersey Geologic Map Data (https://mrdata.usgs.gov/geology/state/sgmc-unit.php?unit=NJTc%3B1) The primary soil type in the area of this collection is classified as Berryland and Mullica soils (0 to 2 percent slopes, occasionally flooded). Berryland Series soils are very deep, very poorly drained soils of the Coastal Plains formed by sandy eolian deposits and/or fluviomarine sediments. Th upper 30 cm of the strata is sandy, dry, very friable and extremely acid. The lower strata to 1.8 meters contains loamy sand coated with organic matter, weakly cemented organ nodules and additional layers of sand occasionally containing rounded quartzose pebbles. The Mullica Series soils are typically coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, and mesic typic humaquepts that are strongly to extremely acidic throughout the profile. The typical solum thickness ranges from 50-150+ cm. These soils are generally considered to be poorly drained. Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/WebSoilSurvey.aspx)
Associated species: Pinus virginiana, Ilex opaca, Amelanchier sp., Smilax sp., Gaylussacia sp., Quercus coccinea, Acer rubrum, Vaccinium corymbosum, Lyonia mariana, Eubotrys racemosa, Sassafras albidum, Ilex glabra, Kalmia angustifolia, Clethra alnifolia, Pteridium aquilinum, Liquidambar styraciflua
Comment: This species is short rhizomatous, spreading, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub, forming an upright-spreading habit in maturity. At this site, plants range in size from approximately 0.3-1.2 meters tall x 0.2-1.5 meters wide. Plants are completely dormant and without leaves. Fruits are brown upright dehiscent capsule borne terminally on previous year’s growth in clusters. Fruits are approximately 10-15 mm long x 3-4 mm wide and borne on pedicels 15-20 mm long. Both the fruiting pedicels and capsules are densely stipitate glandular hairy.