This is the first in a series of publications on the natural history of Kentucky, and deals with the Ferns and Fern Allies.
This is the first in a series of publications on the natural history of Kentucky, and deals with the Ferns and Fern Allies.
The editors of this volume are making a plea for man’s understanding of the “common fundamental features of all aquatic systems.” They maintain that “synthesis is as valid an academic activity as analysis,” and proceed to prove their point.
While collecting plants in Virginia and plotting their county distributions it became apparent that it would be advantageous if there were some method by which one could quickly locate a particular county within the state.
In the spring and summer of 1980, two carices previously unreported from South Carolina were collected in Oconee and Cherokee counties. Carex brunnescens was found in the mountains in the northwestern corner of Oconee County, and Carex torta was collected in Cherokee County in the upper piedmont.
Fimbristylis perpusilla Harper, formerly known from only two counties in southwest Georgia, is now documented from northeast South Carolina. Considered by Kral (1971) as the rarest species of Fimbristylis in North America, the South Carolina record is a range extension of approximately 600 km.
Anthocyanin pigment variants of Sarracenia purpurea L. ssp. venosa (Raf.) Wherry were studied in the Carolinas coastal plain. The variations noted are: 1) red veined green pitcher leaves vs. all red/maroon leaves; 2) varying intensity of anthocyanin pigments in sepals; and 3) varying intensity of red color of petals. Data collected in this study and previous related studies indicate that these variations are genetic. The variation in petal color intensity is not directly related to sepal and pitcher color patterns, although the latter two are to each other. In shaded situations, nearly all pitcher leaves are veined to some degree in this area, but in full sunlight some plants have the genetic capacity to produce all red/maroon leaves. It is concluded that these variations are not directly adaptive in present natural or transplant habitats. Possible adaptive significance in other situations is briefly discussed
Beechnuts were collected during the fall of 1978 from six high-elevation beech forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Comparisons of seed viability were made between these high-elevation forests and low-elevation beech forests in middle and east Tennessee, and southwest Virginia. Viability was tested by tetrazolium, field germination, and laboratory germination tests.
High-elevation beechnuts were found to have a germinative capacity of 72.26% (284/383) and low-elevation nuts 71.12% (431/606). Naturally occurring seedlings were found growing in the high-elevation forests in the spring of 1979. The conclusion is that these forests possess the capacity to reproduce via seed.
Using estimates of the mean monthly temperature as a function of elevation in west-central Virginia, it is inferred that red spruce (Picea rubens) and other boreal vegetation should be a common natural vegetation type above about 3,000 feet. The current existence of an Appalachian Oak Forest above these heights, however, is due to the lumbering and subsequent repeated burning of the red spruce in this region during the last half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. This destruction of the favorable microclimate and soil conditions for spruce germination and initial growth eliminated this species throughout much of its range in this area.
The current documented climatic cooling in the region, however, along with the reestablishment of a moister, cooler climate beneath the oak forest canopy, provides a suitable environment for the reestablishment of spruce. Unfortunately, the distribution of this tree, in regions where it had been eliminated by logging and fire, is limited because of its poor seed mobility. Thus, the dispersal, in a reasonably short time frame, of this tree type over its apparent natural range in the Appalachian Mountains will require reforestation by man.
Alnus maritima has a limited and disjunct range consisting of one county in Delaware, three counties in Maryland on the Delmarva Peninsula, and two counties in Oklahoma near the Red River. Distribution maps were compiled from field and herbarium studies. A. maritima and A. serrulata are sympatric on the Delmarva Peninsula where they have an interesting ecological relationship, but in Oklahoma these two species occur in two different parts of the state. The “threatened species” status of Alnus maritima is discussed
Located in the northeastern Piedmont of Georgia, Elbert County is triangular in shape, bounded on the east by the Savannah River, and to the west and south by the Broad River. A floristic survey is reported with a checklist of vascular plants, listing 826 species and varieties within 428 genera, which includes 22 species of pteridophytes, and 3 species of gymnosperms. Phytogeographical implications are considered. The study demonstrates a surprisingly high diversity of species for a Piedmont county.