15 November 2024.
Okaloosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Dune ridge behind businesses located along Florida State Highway 98. Site was accessed through a now pedestrian-only (gated) Eglin Air Force Base, East River Unit, A-21 Road. After walking through the gated road, the site is to the west along four-wheeling vehicle trails.
Coordinates: 30.4125, -86.7737
(Map it)
Elevation: 9m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Primarily evergreen, extremely dry dune community with a mixed understory of deciduous and evergreen plants in part shade to full sun. Slope: 0 to 2 percent. Aspect: Various. The underlying geology of this area is characterized as undifferentiated Quaternary Sediments. Much of Florida's surface is covered by a varying thickness of undifferentiated sediments consisting of siliciclastics, organics and freshwater carbonates. Where these sediments exceed 6.1 meters thick, they were mapped as discrete units. To subdivide the undifferentiated sediments, those sediments occurring in flood plains were mapped as alluvial and flood plain deposits (Qal). Sediments showing surficial expression of beach ridges and dunes were mapped separately (Qbd) as were the sediments composing Trail Ridge (Qtr). Terrace sands were not mapped (refer to Healy [1975] for a discussion of the terraces in Florida). The subdivisions of the Undifferentiated Quaternary Sediments (Qu) are not lithostratigraphic units but are utilized to facilitate a better understanding of the State's geology. The siliciclastics are light gray, tan, brown to black, unconsolidated to poorly consolidated, clean to clayey, silty, unfossiliferous, variably organic-bearing sands to blue green to olive green, poorly to moderately consolidated, sandy, silty clays. Gravel is occasionally present in the panhandle. Organics occur as plant debris, roots, disseminated organic matrix and beds of peat. Freshwater carbonates, often referred to as marls in the literature, are scattered over much of the State. In southern Florida, freshwater carbonates are nearly ubiquitous in the Everglades. These sediments are buff colored to tan, unconsolidated to poorly consolidated, fossiliferous carbonate muds. Sand, silt and clay may be present in limited quantities. These carbonates often contain organics. The dominant fossils in the freshwater carbonates are mollusks. (Source: USGS Florida Geologic Map Data). The soils of this are characterized as Kureb Series sand, 0 to 8 percent slopes. The Kureb series consists of very deep, excessively drained, gently sloping to moderately steep soils on Coastal Plain uplands and on side slopes along streams and bays. They have formed in marine, aeolian, or fluvial sands. Slopes range from 0 to 20 percent. The thickness of the sandy horizon is more than 2 meters. Soil reaction is neutral to extremely acid throughout. All horizons are fine sand, sand, or coarse sand. Silt plus clay content is less than 5 percent. (Source: California Soil Resource Lab/NRCS Official Soil Series Descriptions).
Number of plants sampled: 1
Associated species: Ceratiola ericoides; Chionanthus sp. [possibly C. pygmaeus; see collector's note]; Chrysoma paucifloculosa; Cladonia perforata; Conradina canescens; Ilex ambigua; Ilex opaca; Ilex vomitoria; Magnolia grandiflora; Pinus clausa; Quercus chapmanii; Quercus geminata; Quercus incana; Quercus laevis; Quercus marilandica; Quercus myrtifolia; Quercus nigra; Symplocos tinctoria; Serenoa repens; Smilax pumila; Sideroxylon lycioides; Muhlenbergia capillaris; Yucca filamentosa.
Comment: This species is a broadleaved evergreen, single to multi-stemmed shrub to small tree 7 m tall at this site. Plants have an irregular upright shape from 0.5-1.5 meters wide. Branches are appressed-pubescent to glabrous. Leaf blade narrowly elliptic to widely ovate, 6-16 cm x 2-5 cm. The undersurfaces of the leaves are pale, glaucous, and sparsely appressed hairy, mostly on the midrib and veins at this time of year. Inflorescences peduncle is equal to or shorter than subtending leaf petiole and pubescent.