10 November 2023.
Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States
Locality: Franklin Township: Piney Hollow Preservation Area (the site is owned by Franklin Township). This species was found on as well as below the dam at the far end of McCarthys Lakes. Plants accessed by foot along trails throughout property.
Coordinates: 39.5742, -74.9253
(Map it)
Elevation: 29m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants growing in part-shade to sun of the moist to saturated areas below the McCarthys Lakes dam in the wetlands associated with the New Squankum Branch. Plants were also found growing on the slopes of the dam in well-drained mesic to dry-mesic conditions. This species is clearly adaptable to a variety of conditions. Slope: 0 to 15 percent. Aspect: East. Elevation: 28 to 30 meters. NOTE: In addition to the soil type described below, this species was also growing on the slopes of a constructed earthen dam of unknown soil origin. The underlying geology of this area is of Middle Miocene, Serravallian origin and characterized as an Cohansey Formation. It is comprised of sand, white to yellow with local gravel and clay. Locally stained red or orange brown by iron oxides and (or) cemented into large blocks of ironstone. Unweathered clay is typically dark gray, but commonly weathers white where interbedded with thin beds of ironstone. Unit is a complex of interfingering marine and nonmarine facies. Sand is typically medium grained and moderately sorted although it ranges from fine to very coarse grained and from poorly to well sorted. Sand consists of quartz and siliceous rock fragments. Some beds are locally micaceous. In general, the sand is crossbedded, although the style of crossbedding varies significantly with the paleoenvironment. Trough crossbedding predominates, especially in the nonmarine channel fill deposits, and the scale of the crossbeds varies from small to large. Maximum thickness in the map area is about 60 m; however, thickness is difficult to determine because of the irregular basal contact and extensive post-depositional erosion. There is as much as 18 m of relief along the basal contact. The basal contact is sharp, undulatory, and directly overlain by a thin gravel bed. The Cohansey Formation unconformably overlies the Kirkwood Formation and is found in channels cut down into the Kirkwood. Where the Kirkwood consists of sandy, light-colored sediments, the basal contact of the Cohansey is drawn below crossbedded sediments. Where the Kirkwood consists of dark-colored silty beds, the basal contact is drawn between light-colored Cohansey sediments and the underlying dark-colored sediments. The Cohansey was markedly thinned because of erosion prior to deposition of overlying units in the western and southern parts of the southern sheet. The unit has been extensively eroded and stripped from large areas of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, particularly in the central sheet where outliers are common. In spite of its widespread nature, the Cohansey is poorly exposed because of its loose sandy composition, which causes it to erode easily. (Source: USGS New Jersey Geologic Map Data.) The primary soil type in the collection area is classified as Manahawkin Series muck, 0 to 2 percent slopes, frequently flooded, Northern Coastal Plain. Manahawkin Series soils are very deep, very poorly drained soils that are sandy or sandy-skeletal, siliceous, dysic, mesic Terric Haplosaprists high in organic deposits that are found in lake basins, back swamps, floodplains, and freshwater channels. The soils are classified in the dysic reaction class because pH in water dominantly ranges from 4.5 to 5.0. The zone from the soil surface to a depth of 200 cm is continuously saturated (endosaturation). The upper strata of Manahawkin Series from 0 to 76 cm is black broken face and rubbed muck; 10 percent fibers, less than 2 percent rubbed; moderate medium granular structure; mat of many fine roots; identifiable material is primarily herbaceous with a trace of woody fragments; 85-95 percent organic matter; extremely acid. Lower strata to 200 cm are gray sand, single grained and loose; strongly acid. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey.)
Number of plants sampled: 6
Associated species: Chamaecyparis thyoides; Clethra alnifolia; Vaccinium corymbosum; Smilax sp.; Ilex glabra; Ilex laevigata; Ilex verticillata; Lyonia ligustrina; Acer rubrum; Cornus sp. (listed as Swida sp.); Aronia arbutifolia; Baccharis halimifolia; Magnolia virginiana; Carex sp.; Liquidambar styraciflua; Typha latifolia; Rhododendron viscosum; Nyssa sylvatica; Juniperus virginiana; Quercus alba; Diospyros virginiana; Solidago sp.; Ageratina altissima.
Comment: This species is a dioecious, single-stemmed (occasionally multi-stemmed), broadleaved evergreen tree with an upright pyramidal habit. Older specimens become loose and open with an upright spreading, slightly pyramidal habit. Fruiting trees at this location ranged from 5-10 m tall and up to 4 m wide. The bark of mature trees is light grey and smooth. Leaves are alternate, simple, and evergreen, generally ovate to broadly ovate; leaves typically have 4-6 spines on each side of the leaf. Leaves are medium green and not shiny; they range from 5-10 cm long x 2-3 cm wide. The fruit are drupe-like berries ripening in the autumn; they are round to ellipsoidal shaped, 6-12 mm in diameter, and dull reddish-orange to red color. Plants are occasional throughout the woodlands on and below the McCarthys Lakes dam to the east in the area bordering the New Squankum Branch. Approximately 1900 seeds (380 fruits) collected from 6 plants.
Collector(s):