12 November 2023.
Orange County, North Carolina, United States
Locality: Duke Forest property along New Hope Creek. The collection site is accesses by foot along trails.
Coordinates: 35.9832, -79.0186
(Map it)
Elevation: 103m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants growing in shade to part-shade of an upland very dry woodland habitat that is mostly deciduous. The site is steeply sloped underlain by rocky outcrop. Slope: 15 to 25 percent. Aspect: Northwest. The underlying geology of this area is of Cambrian/Late Proterozoic origin and characterized as a Metamorphosed Granitic Rock. It is megacrystic and well foliated; locally contains hornblende. Chapel Hill, Chatham, Farrington, Meadow Flats, Mt. Moriah, Parks Crossroads plutons, and Roxboro and Vance County suites. (Source: USGS North Carolina Geologic Map Data.) The primary soil type in the collection area is classified as Wedowee sandy loam, 15 to 25 percent slopes. Wedowee Series consists of very deep, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed in residuum weathered from felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont uplands. These soils are on narrow ridges and on side slopes of uplands. Slopes are dominantly 6 to 25 percent but ranges from 0 to 60 percent. The strata range from dark brown and brownish yellow to strong brown. They are mostly sandy loam; moderate fine granular structure; very friable; strongly acid. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey.)
Number of plants sampled: 15
Associated species: Fagus grandifolia; Chimaphila maculata; Oxydendrum arboreum; Diospyros virginiana; Quercus coccinea; Acer rubrum; Ilex opaca; Hexastylis sp.; Viburnum acerifolium; Tipularia discolor; Chionanthus virginicus; Cornus florida; Quercus alba; Vaccinium elliottii; Pinus taeda; Juniperus virginiana; Tsuga canadensis; Kalmia latifolia; Rhododendron periclymenoides; Hamamelis virginiana; Epigaea repens; Vaccinium arboreum; Smilax sp.; Solidago sp.; Liatris pilosa; Carpinus caroliniana; Xanthorhiza simplicissima; Polystichum acrostichoides; Ulmus sp.; Euonymus americanus; Asimina triloba; Carya tomentosa.
Comment: Evergreen, broadleaved shrubs 1-2.5 m tall x 0.3-1.5 m wide, many shrubs in decline and others suckering at the base. Leaves are evergreen, elliptic to obovate or slightly ovate, 6-12 cm long x 3.5-6 cm wide; the petiole often hairy. The leaves are thick, and coriaceous with entire margins; occasionally revolute and glabrous or sparsely hairy along margins. The leaf apex is rounded/mucronate to obtuse or acute. The undersides of leaves are often minutely and obscurely hairy. Woody capsules are 20 mm long x 5 mm wide and borne on erect pedicels that are ferruginous hairy. Plants are infrequent at this site and considered rare and disjunct from mountain populations farther west in North Carolina. Note: Plants of this species in these disjunct populations have been occasionally referred to as Rhododendron catawbiense var. insularis. This taxon is not currently accepted.
Collector(s):