19 September 2024.
Clarke County, Alabama, United States
Locality: Woodland slopes around and below the hilltop parking area leading down to the Silver Creek Lake Campground off of Silver Creek Lake Road.
Coordinates: 31.6661, -87.5757
(Map it)
Elevation: 49m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Plants are growing in shade of upland dry mesic, mature mixed deciduous and evergreen woodland. Generally, the overstory is thinner and there is less leaf litter cover, making the surface soil conditions drier. Slope: 5 to 10 percent. Aspect: Southeast. Geology: The underlying geology of this area is Claiborne Group, Tallahatta Formation, of Eocene origin, with 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. (Source: USGS Alabama Geologic Map Data). Soils: The primary soil types in the collection area are classified as Arundel-Cantuche Complex soils (15 to 35 percent slopes). The Arundel Series consists of moderately deep, well drained, very slowly permeable soils on dissected uplands of the Southern Coastal Plain. They formed in marine deposits consisting of acid clays underlain by horizontally bedded sandstone, buhrstone and siltstone. These soils are strongly acid. Slopes range from 2 to 60 percent. The Cantuche Series consists of shallow, well drained, moderately permeable soils that formed over horizontally bedded claystone. These soils are on narrow ridgetops and narrow benches on steep side-slopes of dissected landscapes in the Coastal Plain. They are strongly acid. Slopes range from 2 to 35 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: 6
Associated species: Magnolia macrophylla; Magnolia grandiflora; Ostrya virginiana; Chasmanthium sessiliflorum; Mitchella repens; Vaccinium elliottii; Pinus taeda; Fagus grandifolia; Quercus alba; Quercus falcata; Morella cerifera; Cornus florida; Quercus laurifolia; Prunus serotina; Crataegus sp.; Kalmia latifolia; Ditrysinia fruticosa; Callicarpa americana; Ilex opaca; Liquidambar styraciflua; Polystichum acrostichoides; Symplocos tinctoria; Oxydendrum arboreum; Calycanthus floridus; Hamamelis virginiana; Nyssa sylvatica; Arundinaria gigantea; Magnolia acuminata; Rhododendron colemanii; Carex sp.; Cartrema americana; Pinus glabra; Prunus sp. [listed as P. alabamensis, but likely a plum species based on previous material received by NPGS]; Aesculus pavia; Gelsemium sempervirens; Acer rubrum; Hypericum sp.; Crataegus marshallii; Gaylussacia sp.; Ilex decidua.
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 occasional in the upland woodlands. Seed collected from 6 plants; approximately 250 fruits collected. [Collecting notes prepared by Rick Lewandowski.]
Collector(s):