15 November 2023.
Horry County, South Carolina, United States
Locality: Little Pee Dee Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area (South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Public Lands): Marsh Lake Road, 1.23 kilometers north of South Carolina Highway 917.
Coordinates: 34.1501, -79.1914
(Map it)
Elevation: 13m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants growing in part-shade to sun on the edge of an acid seasonally inundated depression as well as further away in longleaf pine understory. The site is currently dry but, based on the associated vegetation, has periods of moisture on or near the surface. Slope: N/A. Aspect: N/A. The underlying geology of this area is of Pleistocene origin and characterized as Waccamaw Formation. This formation is another Carolina coastalized terrace that is deeply weathered. It is characterized by unconsolidated, coarse-detrital, soft sand limestones and loose gray to buff fine quartz sands in which occasional small quartz pebbles are present. It also includes sedimentary, carbonate, soft limestones. (Source: USGS South Carolina Geologic Map Data.) The primary soil type in this collection area is classified as Lynn Haven Series sand. The Lynn Haven Series consists of very deep, poorly and very poorly drained, moderate or moderately rapid, permeable soils in low areas and depressions in Atlantic Flatwoods and the Gulf. They formed in thick deposits of sandy marine sediments. Th Lynn Haven Series soil is approximately 2 m thick and ranges from black near the surface to yellow brown in the deepest strata. Most of the strata are comprised of fine sands that are friable with the deepest strata also including a small percentage of organic matter. Reaction ranges from extremely acid to strongly acid throughout the profile. The water table is at 0-15 cm for periods of 2 to 6 months annually and within a depth 1 m for more than 6 months during most years; during extended dry periods it is below 1 meter. Depressional areas are ponded for long duration in most years. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey.)
Number of plants sampled: 15
Associated species: Pinus palustris; Lyonia lucida; Persea palustris; Magnolia virginiana; Vaccinium crassifolium; Vaccinium corymbosum; Ilex glabra; Zenobia pulverulenta; Ilex coriacea; Vaccinium pallidum; Cyrilla racemiflora; Morella cerifera; Vaccinium elliottii; Lyonia mariana; Smilax sp.; Itea virginica.
Comment: Plants are multi-stemmed, upright, colonial-spreading, low-growing semi-evergreen to evergreen shrubs. Mature plants range from 0.2-0.5 m tall x 0.5-2.5 m wide. Leaves borne whorled in 3s (rarely opposite). Leaves are pale grayish-green above, usually green beneath, ranging in size from 2-5 cm long. The upper leaf surface is densely puberulent with scattered, stipitate-glandular hairs. Fruits are born in axillary racemes on 2–3-year-old wood. NOTE: Kalmia carolina is similar in appearance to the northern Kalmia angustifolia; however, it lacks the abundant stipitate glandular hairs found on all parts of K. angustifolia. Additionally, K. carolina is found in moist habitat far more frequently than K. angustifolia. Plants are uncommon at this site.
Collector(s):