19 September 2024.
Monroe County, Alabama, United States
Locality: Haines Island Park. Follow Ferry Road to the top of the hill entering the park where a picnic shelter is located. Plants are growing along trails to the north of the picnic shelter.
Coordinates: 31.7213, -87.4641
(Map it)
Elevation: 81m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants are growing from part-sun to full shade in the understory of a mixed deciduous and coniferous forest on very dry upland habitat. Slope: 10 to 20 percent. Aspect: North. Geology: The underlying geology of this area is probably of Eocene age and characterized as the Claiborne Group: Tallahatta Formation. It is comprised of white to very light-greenish-gray thin-bedded to massive siliceous claystone; interbedded with thin layers of fossiliferous clay, sandy clay, and glauconitic sand and sandstone. White to light-greenish-gray fine to coarse sand and fine gravel occur at the base of the formation in southwest Alabama (Meridian Sand Member). (Source: USGS Alabama Geologic Map Data). Soils: The area of this occurrence is characterized as Arundel Series Loam, 8 to 35 percent slopes (ArF). The Arundel series consists of moderately deep, well drained, very slowly permeable soils on dissected uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain Major Land Resource Area (MLRA 133A). They formed in marine deposits consisting of acid clays underlain by horizontally bedded sandstone, buhrstone and siltstone. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent. (Source: California Soil Resource Lab/NRCS Official Soil Series Descriptions). EPA Ecoregion (Level III): Southeastern Plains (65). EPA Ecoregion (Level IV): Buhrstone/Lime Hills (65q).
Number of plants sampled: 12
Associated species: Ostrya virginiana; Ilex opaca; Quercus alba; Liquidambar styraciflua; Asimina parviflora; Mitchella repens; Dioscorea villosa; Hamamelis virginiana; Hamamelis ovalis; Hexastylis arifolia; Smilax sp.; Amelanchier sp.; Carya sp.; Pinus taeda; Monotropa uniflora; Carex sp.; Cornus florida; Vitis sp.; Oxydendrum arboreum; Prunus sp. [listed as Prunus alabamensis, but likely a plum, based on previous collections received by NPGS]; Magnolia macrophylla; Liriodendron tulipifera; Chasmanthium sessiliflorum; Vaccinium arboreum; Callicarpa americana; Nyssa sylvatica; Dichanthelium sp.; Kalmia latifolia; Oxalis sp.; Clematis sp.(Viorna complex); Rhododendron canescens; Pleopeltis michauxiana; Scleria triglomerata; Rhododendron minus; Magnolia grandiflora.
Comment: Plants are multi-stemmed, highly rhizomatous, deciduous, upright shrubs, frequently forming extensive colonies. Mature plants range in size from 0.5-1.5 meters tall. Leaves are opposite and generally three-lobed; however, occasionally, some leaves area simple and unlobed. Leaf size ranges from 20-35 mm long and wide. Fleshy fruits with a single seed are borne terminally on branches in small clusters with a few to 15 or more fruits per inflorescence. Fruits are round and dark purple-black when fully mature and approximately 5-8 mm in diameter. This species is scattered, but relatively common. Seed collected from 12 plants; approximately 400 fruits collected. [Collecting notes prepared by Rick Lewandowski.]
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