18 November 2023.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Navarre, Florida: Adams St. cul-de-sac, on nine-acre private property. Infrastructure development began and was terminated due to the lack of any engineering or environmental site planning (designated wetland status). It has remained idle for a number of years.
Coordinates: 30.4100, -86.9289
(Map it)
Elevation: 11m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Environment description: Wet Pine Flatwood transitioning to a shrub bog habitat under fire suppression. Slope: less than 2%. Aspect: North. Elevation: 36 feet.
Associated species: Cyrilla racemiflora; Cliftonia monophylla; Ilex glabra; Clethra alnifolia; Lyonia lucida; Serenoa repens; Pinus elliottii; Magnolia virginiana; Magnolia grandiflora; Morella cerifera; Quercus laurifolia; Seymeria sp.; Conradina canescens; Smilax glauca (listed as S. glaucescens); Smilax laurifolia; Kalmia hirsuta.
Comment: Sweet pepperbush is a deciduous shrub, 3-8 feet tall, that varies from a mounding, clumping habit to growing in running thickets. Often found in swamps, damp thickets, bogs, seepage slopes, or sandy woods. Leaves medium to dark green, 3-4” long and 1-2” wide, alternate, simple, ovate to obovate; apex acute to acuminate; margin serrate, entire toward the base; fall color in shades of yellow to golden brown. Late to leaf out in spring. Flowers white, in dense, narrow 2-6” long racemes that are clustered together at branch end on current season growth, June-August. Fruit 1/8” (BB-sized), brown capsules, ripen September-November, but persist through winter, adding winter interest.
Collector(s):