08 December 2023.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: North side of Sid Hayes Road approximately 65 m southeast of the junction with Watson Road.
Coordinates: 30.8328, -87.2432
(Map it)
Elevation: 32m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Growing in shade, part shade and light shade in dry mesic to moist, occasionally wet, habitats along the edge of the road and in the woodland interior. This species is remarkably adaptable. The only drawback to the range of habitats is that in deep shade, very few fruit can be found, presumably because there is far less flower production and/or fewer pollinators. Slope: 0 to 3 percent. Aspect: South. 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 Dothan Series fine sandy loam soils (5 to 8 percent slopes). The Dothan Series consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in thick beds of unconsolidated, medium to fine-textured marine sediments. Dothan soils are on interfluves. The surface 0-33 cm is characterized by sandy-loam, well-drained soils that are strongly acid. From 33-200 cm they are characterized by sandy clay loam soils that are more moisture retentive and strongly acid. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey.)
Number of plants sampled: 5
Associated species: Vaccinium arboreum; Ilex vomitoria; Cyrilla racemiflora; Quercus nigra; Smilax sp.; Prunus caroliniana; Liquidambar styraciflua; Rubus sp.; Ilex coriacea; Pinus taeda; Persea palustris; Magnolia virginiana; Morella cerifera; Acer rubrum; Smilax laurifolia; Liriodendron tulipifera; Quercus laurifolia.
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 site ranged from 5-8 m tall and 3-4 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 (occasionally almost entire). Leaves are medium green and not shiny; they range from 5-10 cm long x 2-3 cm wide. The fruit are 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 but regularly seen along the edges of the road and in the woodlands. However, there were far fewer female trees than males. Seeds collected from five plants.
Collector(s):