Notes and News: University of Georgia
Notes and News: University of Georgia
In 1944 a project was started by the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station to develop and market crops which could be grown on poor agricultural land, particularly on steep slopes. A minimum of cultivation of such crops in order to prevent soil erosion as well as a short rotation to insure a reasonably quick income were needed. The development of these crops was termed “Hillculture”, which implies a type of land use bridging agriculture and forestry.’ American holly (Ilex opaca Ait.) for a Christmas green was the first crop on which the hillculture personnel worked, and marketing this holly was the first step. Investigations showed that only a superior type of holly should be marketed to satisfy the trade. Holly with leaves having poor color, spots caused bv fungi or insects, or abnormal form was not always marketable. These findings therefore led to the decision to start investigations for determining proper methods of producing holly under such conditions that those desirable characteristics influenced by site could be obtained. In selecting a desirable site for the production of holly, the effect of shade from a natural canopy on the type of holly produced was first considered. A study was set up to determine how natural canopies of varying densities affected the development of the holly. The effect of these degrees of density of cover was investigated in relation to such factors as color of leaves, length of leaves, height, growth, size of crown, and number of leaves. The results of the investigation should indicate the desirability of growing holly either in the shade or in the open. This paper will consider only one phase of the investigation, that being the effect of natural canopy densities on the color of holly leaves. The purpose is to show whether holly should be grown in the open or in the shade of other trees in order to produce a more desirable color in the leaves.
It is not unusual to find oak trees with unmistakably hybrid features in the two distinct groups of eastern oaks, the white oak group and the red oak group. That hybrids occur between the members within these two groups is obvious to a student familiar with oaks in the field. These hybrid oaks are distinguished by a multiplicity of’ intermediate characteristics in many instances, which may appear in the leaves, the autumnal coloration or the acorns. Spontaneous hybrids appearing in nature leave no historic records at to how, when or where they occurred. One can only surmise as to the origin of the tree in question. Whether it is a first generation derivative, an individual of a later generation, or some back-cross is quite unknown. There has been comparatively little study of our hybrid oaks and their progenies, and even less study of progenies derived from controlled crosses involving pure or line-bred parents of the species crossed. There is marked variation within most species of oaks, and some of these variations have appeared so distinctive that they have been considered of varietal importance by some botanists. A number of these appear to havTe more or less definite geographical limitations. Quercus alba var. latiloba Sarg. and Q. alba var. repanda Michx. f., may be mentioned in this connection. The former with shorter lobes and shallower sinuses, is more common than the typical, very deeply lobed form generally, especially in more northern regions 1/2/. The latter is said to be more abundant in parts of Louisiana and, in certain counties in Illinois 1/3/.
During the spring and summer of 1948 I had opportunity to make rather extensive plant collections in Georgia. The work was supported in part directly by the University of Georgia, and in part by a grant-in-aid from the Carnegie Research Committee of the University Center in Georgia. Since I am transferring my major botanical activities to the Pacific Northwest, it seems advisable to place on record at this time certain notes accruing chiefly from my field and herbarium work of 1948. Through the kindness of Dr. George H. Boyd, director of research at the University of Georgia, I have been able to visit the United States National Herbarium, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the New York Botanical Garden, a.nd the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University as an aid in the preparation of this paper. The new entities proposed are presented first, followed by a discussion of some unusual habitats and their more noteworthy plant inhabitants. In conclusion, some additional state records and comments are listed in Englerian sequence. Except as otherwise noted, all specimens cited are in the herbarium of the University of Georgia. Most of my own collections are in sets of ten or more and will be distributed to major herbaria.