29 September 2024.
Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Blackwater River Wildlife Management Area: growing on the south side of Bud Bass Road, approximately 0.3 kilometers east of Training Center R./Norma Riley Rd.
Coordinates: 30.7576, -86.8019
(Map it)
Elevation: 29m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: This plant is growing in part-shade under mesic conditions along the edge of a longleaf pine plantation. Slope: 0 percent. Aspect: North. Geology: The underlying geology of this area is probably of lower Pliocene age and characterized as the Citronelle Formation. The Citronelle Formation is widespread in the Gulf Coastal Plain. The type section for the Citronelle Formation, named by Matson (1916), is near Citronelle, Alabama. The Citronelle Formation grades laterally, through a broad facies transition, into the Miccosukee Formation of the eastern Florida panhandle. Coe (1979) investigated the Citronelle Formation in portions of the western Florida panhandle. The Citronelle Formation is a siliciclastic, deltaic deposit that is lithologically similar to, and time equivalent with, the Cypresshead Formation and, at least in part, the Long Key Formation (Cunningham et al., 1998) of the peninsula. In the western panhandle, some of the sediments mapped as Citronelle Formation may be reworked Citronelle. The lithologies are the same and there are few fossils present to document a possible younger age. The Citronelle Formation 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. Marine fossils are rare but fossil pollen, plant remains and occasional vertebrates are found. Much of the Citronelle Formation is highly permeable. It forms the Sand and Gravel Aquifer of the surficial aquifer system. (Source: USGS Florida Geologic Map Data). Soils: The soil of this area is characterized as Lakeland Series Sand, 0 to 5 percent slopes (21). The Lakeland Series consists of very deep, excessively drained, rapid to very rapidly permeable soils on uplands. They formed in thick beds of eolian or marine and/or fluvio-marine sands in the Southern Coastal Plain MLRA (133A), the Carolina and Georgia Sandhills (MLRA 137), the Eastern Gulf Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 152A) and the Atlantic Coast Flatwoods (MLRA 153A). (Source: California Soil Resource Lab/NRCS Official Soil Series Descriptions). EPA Ecoregion (Level III): Southeastern Plains (65). EPA Ecoregion (Level IV): Southern Pine Plains and Hills (65f).
Number of plants sampled: 3
Associated species: Quercus hemisphaerica; Pinus palustris; Ilex opaca; Ilex vomitoria; Rhus glabra; Callicarpa americana; Symplocos tinctoria; Vaccinium elliottii; Gelsemium sempervirens; Passiflora lutea; Eupatorium capillifolium; Hypericum sp.
Comment: Plant is a deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub with large clusters of mature dark red fruit. This particular specimen has large leaves and very dark blackish-green foliage. The species is occasional at this site (numerous other non-fruiting plants growing nearby). Seed collected from 3 plants [the number of seeds collected is not reported]. Observations by Ron Miller: We saw a surprising number of Ilex ambigua shoots in burned over longleaf country. The depicted plant obviously enjoys a much more mesic site along a road that protects it from periodic fires. It was peeping forth from a wall of Quercus hemisphaerica trees, yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), Elliott's blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii), and other stuff Tim will no doubt list. There was a fair amount of Callicarpa americana on the edge of the road. These fruits were at absolute ripeness, whereas the much smaller Ilex amelanchier fruit collected earlier were just ripening. [Collecting notes prepared by Rick Lewandowski.]
Collector(s):