24 November 2024.
Okaloosa County, Florida, United States
Locality: Eglin Air Force Base: East River Unit H-3, Range Road 259, north of Highway 98.
Coordinates: 30.4130, -86.7748
(Map it)
Elevation: 7m.
Georeference protocol: Lat/lon determined by GPS
Habitat: Wild Habitat
Environment description: Margins of a wetland stringer with several heavily fruited plants, surrounded by xeric scrub/relict fossil dunes. They are growing in part shade to full sun in a mixed evergreen and deciduous shrubby habitat with evergreen and deciduous trees growing further upslope in the dune habitat that surrounds the wetland. Slope: 4 percent. Aspect: West. 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 Rutlege Series fine sand, depressional. The Rutlege series comprises very deep, very poorly drained persistently wet soils on flats, depressions, and floodplains where shallow ponding is common. They are of marine or fluvial sediment origin. Thickness of these loamy sandy soils is greater than 1.5 meters and a reaction from extremely acid to strongly acid. (Source: NRCS Web Soil Survey).
Number of plants sampled: 2
Associated species: Clethra alnifolia; Cyrilla racemiflora; Cliftonia monophylla; Ilex coriacea; Lyonia lucida; Magnolia grandiflora; Magnolia virginiana; Morella cerifera; Rhododendron viscosum Serrulatum Group (listed as R. serrulatum); Serenoa repens; Smilax laurifolia.
Comment: Plants in this population are upright spreading, dioecious, broadleaved evergreen shrubs. They develop into multi-stemmed (infrequently single-stemmed) plants ranging from 3 to 5 meters tall and wide. The opposite, simple, evergreen leaves are elliptic to lanceolate-ovate in shape and range from 5-10 cm long. The upper leaf surface is a lustrous green with a lighter green lower surface; margins are entire and leaves are generally glabrous. On the fruiting plants that were sampled, there are large clusters of globe-shaped, dull black fruit borne in the axils of branches. Fruits are approximately 0.5 to 0.75 cm in diameter. Scattered but common occurrence. Seed collected from two plants.