13 December 2023.
Okaloosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Yellow River Water Management Area, found along an unnamed unpaved road leading down to the Yellow River. This unpaved road is accessed from Old River Road to the east near the junction with Shockley Springs Road.
Coordinates: 30.8738, -86.6022
(Map it)
Elevation: 35m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants are growing along the road on the woodland edge on a small bluff above a creek in well-drained to dry habitat in part shade. They are also found sporadically in areas along the Yellow River where occasional inundation occurs. Slope: N/A. Aspect: N/A. The underlying geology of this area is the Alum Bluff Group of Miocene origin. It includes the Chipola Formation, Oak Grove Sand, Shoal River Formation, Choctawhatchee Formation and the Jackson Bluff Formation. The formations included in this group are generally defined on the basis of their molluscan faunas and stratigraphic position. Puri (1953) described sediment facies as they relate to the formations of the Alum Bluff Group. These sediments are lithologically distinct as a group, not as individual units. The Alum Bluff Group crops out or is beneath a thin overburden in the western panhandle from river valleys in Okaloosa County eastward to western Jackson County. The Alum Bluff Group consists of clays, sands and shell beds which may vary from fossiliferous, sandy clays to unfossiliferous sands and clays and occasional carbonate beds. Mica is a common constituent and glauconite and phosphate occur sporadically. Induration varies from essentially nonindurated in sands to well indurated in carbonate lenses. Colors range from cream to olive gray with mottled reddish brown in weathered sections. Sand grain size varies from very fine to very coarse with sporadic occurrences of gravel. These sediments generally have low permeabilities and are part of the intermediate confining unit/aquifer system. (Source: USGS Florida Geologic Map Data.) The surface soil profile of this area is primarily Bonifay-Dothan-Angie complex (5 to 12 percent slopes). Bonifay soil consists of very deep, well drained, moderately slowly permeable soils on ridges and side slopes in the Southern Coastal Plain. They formed in thick beds of sandy and loamy marine sediments. Solum thickness ranges from 1.5-2.0 m. Soil reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid throughout, except where the surface has been limed. Ironstone pebbles, 2 to 15 mm in size, range from 0 to 5 percent, by volume. Depth to the plinthic horizon ranges from 1.1-1.7 m. Some horizons contain up to 25 percent plinthite by volume. 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. The Angie series consists of very deep, moderately well drained, slowly permeable soils that formed in loamy and clayey sediment on Tertiary-aged uplands. These soils are on broad, level to strongly sloping coastal plains. Slope is dominantly 1 to 5 percent, but the range is 0 to 12 percent. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey.)
Number of plants sampled: 5
Associated species: Vaccinium arboreum; Persea borbonia; Quercus hemisphaerica; Quercus marilandica; Ilex vomitoria; Smilax sp.; Yucca sp.; Pityopsis graminifolia; Clethra alnifolia; Smilax pumila; Cartrema americana; Quercus nigra; Smilax bona-nox; Arundinaria tecta; Chasmanthium sessiliflorum; Viburnum dentatum; Ilex decidua; Sabal minor; Carex sp.; Carpinus caroliniana; Liquidambar styraciflua; Cyrilla racemiflora; Taxodium distichum; Quercus lyrata; Quercus laurifolia; Betula nigra; Bignonia capreolata; Crataegus marshallii; Toxicodendron radicans; Viola sp.; Ilex verticillata; Fraxinus caroliniana; Salix sp.; Chasmanthium latifolium; Cephalanthus occidentalis; Cornus foemina.
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 in the forests and along the edges of the road. While not abundant, they are relatively common, but seldom found in large populations. Seeds collected from five plants.
Collector(s):