06 December 2023.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Plants are growing on the west side of Morristown Road, approximately 1.6 kilometers north of the intersection with Dykestown Road.
Coordinates: 30.9357, -87.2220
(Map it)
Elevation: 23m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Growing in part shade to shade of moist to wet areas associated with an unnamed creek. The road is elevated in this area also creating additional moisture opportunities via runoff from the pavement. Slope: 0 percent. Aspect: N/A. The underlying geology of this area is the Citronelle Formation of Pliocene origin and consists of gray to orange, often mottled, unconsolidated to poorly consolidated, very fine to very coarse, poorly sorted, clean to clayey sands. It contains significant amounts of clay, silt and gravel which may occur as beds and lenses and may vary considerably over short distances. Limonite nodules and limonite-cemented beds are common. (Source: USGS Florida Geologic Map Data.) The surface soil profile of this area is primarily Bibb-Kinston Series Association. Bibb Series soils are coarse-loamy, sandy, acid soils that are poorly drained. They are soils of flood plains and streams subject to frequent flooding. These are found in association with Kinston Series soils that are fine-loamy, sandy, acid soils of flood plains and stream subject to frequent flooding. The Bibb-Kinston association ranges from 1-1.5 meters thick and is strongly acid. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey.)
Number of plants sampled: 2
Associated species: Smilax sp.; Arundinaria tecta; Magnolia grandiflora; Ilex opaca; Cyrilla racemiflora; Magnolia virginiana; Pinus taeda; Liquidambar styraciflua; Ilex vomitoria; Lyonia lucida; Celtis laevigata; Vaccinium elliottii; Cartrema americana; Quercus laurifolia; Quercus alba; Symplocos tinctoria; Quercus nigra; Oxydendrum arboreum; Aronia arbutifolia; Ilex coriacea; Rubus sp.; Woodwardia areolata; Illicium floridanum; Smilax laurifolia; Vitis rotundifolia [originally listed as Muscadinia rotundifolia]; Xanthorhiza simplicissima.
Comment: This species is a multi-stemmed, vigorously rhizomatous, upright spreading deciduous shrub. It forms loosely defined colonies with a wide range of shoots from emergent sprouts to sparsely branched stems that produce flowers and fruit. In this location, shrub colonies range from 0.1-1.7 m tall x 3-4 meters wide. Leaves are deciduous, opposite to sub-opposite, and are generally broadly elliptic to ovate, being slightly wider on the proximal end (lower half) of the leaves. Leaf sizes ranges from 7-10 cm long x 2-4 cm wide. The leaf petiole is quite short, 5-10 mm long. Foliage is a beautiful butter yellow with red petioles at the time of collection. Fruits are urn-shaped to slightly globose inflated papery fruit that drooping on the end of the branch at maturity. The distal portion of the fruit opens as the fruit dries exposing the mature seeds within; seed may stay inside the fruit for several months before fall out. The fruit at maturity is brown to brownish black, ranging from 10-15 cm long x 2-3.5 cm wide. In nature, fruit production is sparse, perhaps, 1-2 fruits per stem. Plants are infrequent in part shade to shade in moist understory areas along the road near or often in association with creeks and wetlands. Seeds collected from two plants. Note: We were surprised to find this population as well as another just a few miles further north since it is considered rare in Florida. It was even more surprising that both sites where Calycanthus was found also had another plant species that is rare in Florida, Xanthorhiza simplicissima.
Collector(s):