Noteworthy Collections: Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania
Noteworthy Collections: Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania
The prairie-redroot (Ceanothus herbaceus Raf.) is a low, bushy shrub of the Rhamnaceae that typically occurs on prairies, open plains, calcareous bluffs, and open woodlands from Montana and Colorado, east to Michigan and southward to Texas, Louisiana and Indiana. It also occurs in the Great Lakes region, with a small number of outlying stations eastward into New York, Vermont and Quebec (Coile 1988). Gleason and Cronquist (1991) do not include any other eastern occurrences. Here, we review its status in the mid-Atlantic United States, confirm its occurrence in the District of Columbia and report it for the first time from West Virginia and the central Appalachians.
Lycopus cokeri Ahles, a narrow endemic to the Sandhills region of North and South Carolina, was never validly published, although included in the Guide to the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, and Bell 1964). Field and herbarium studies have shown that this taxon is morphologically distinct from related taxa, that it occupies a unique range and habitat, and that it is valid at the species level. A Latin diagnosis is provided to validate publication. A key to Carolinian Lycopus is given.
Arkansas is renowned as a rock hound’s paradise. For the field botanist it is at least a state of floristic bliss. With five physiographic provinces compressed into the smallest state west of the Mississippi River, Arkansas is a major center for endemism, and a cauldron of systematic and ecological vicarism for both animals and plants.
ABSTRACT
Diversity of emergent wetland plant species was measured in four tidal marshes on the York and Pamunkey Rivers, Virginia. Each marsh represented a different salinity regime (polyhaline, mesohaline, oligohaline, or tidal freshwater). The tidal freshwater marsh had the highest species diversity index of the sites. However, the next highest diversity index was seen in the marsh with the highest salinity, possibly due to an obligate halophytic component absent from the other sample plots. Facultative halophytes dominated the polyhaline, mesohaline, and oligohaline marshes. No similarity existed between the dominant flora of the tidal freshwater marsh and that of the other three marshes.
To determine forest composition and successional trends in the central Piedmont of Virginia, 32 stands within Cumberland State Forest and Powhatan Lake Wildlife Management Area in Cumberland and Powhatan Counties, respectively, were quantitatively sampled and analyzed using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) and canonical correlational analysis (CCA) for large tree, small tree, and sapling size classes. Quercus alba, Q. velutina, and Q. coccinea were the three most important overstory species. An abundance of Q. velutina suggests that the central Piedmont may be more similar to the northeastern Piedmont than the southern Piedmont. Quercus prinus was abundant in the overstory only atop a monadnock in Cumberland State Forest. We found that Q. prinus was most successful in sites with a combination of level terrain, soils with low levels of Mg and Ca, and sudden elevation increases in relation to surrounding landscape. Nyssa sylvatica, Acer rubrum, and Cornus florida were the most important understory species. Acer rubrum and C. florida were never found codominating the same stand in the understory, suggesting that each has a significantly different environmental optimum. To determine the expanse of the transition zone between the Piedmont vegetation and the Coastal Plain vegetation, we compared our study in the central Piedmont with studies in the Coastal Plain and the eastern Piedmont at the Fall Line. Comparison of our study sites with those of E. Wolff and S. Ware from Pocahontas State Park in the eastern Piedmont leads us to conclude that their study area lies in the eastern portion of a transition zone between vegetation typical of the (central) Piedmont and that of the Coastal Plain. Further study needs to be done in the areas between Wolff and Ware’s study sites and ours to conclude whether the transition zone is narrow or a broad transitional expanse.
ABSTRACT
We conducted floristic surveys of Horseshoe Lake Conservation Area (HLCA), a 3,702 ha refuge that was established in 1927. It is owned and managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to provide habitat for migratory waterfowl. Fishing, deer hunting, camping, and wildlife observation are secondary uses of the refuge. Goals of this study were to conduct a floristic survey of HLCA, characterize existing plant communities, document threatened and/or endangered plant species, and compare results with other studies in the region. Based upon a floristic study of a portion of the area during 1968-72 and 25 collecting trips during 1993-94, a total of 685 taxa in 366 genera and 112 families were documented. One-hundred forty one (20.6%) were non-native to the study site. Thirteen taxa were state listed as threatened or endangered. A comparison with ten additional study areas in the region indicates that floristic relationships exist at the family and genus level. The families Asteraceae, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae, and Polygonaceae and genera Carex, Quercus, and Polygonum were most important. The use of percent non-native taxa can be utilized to determine past and present anthropogenic disturbance to a site.
ABSTRACT
Elkhart Woods is a high quality prairie grove located about one km east of the town of Elkhart, Illinois. This isolated grove is situated on a glacial kame of Illinoian age surrounded by flat to gently rolling farmland. Acer saccharum Marsh. dominated all tree diameter classes, had the highest importance value (84 of 200), averaged 132.5 stems/ha (above 10 cm dbh), and had a basal area of 9.33 m2/ha. Other important species included Ulmus rubra Muhl. (IV of 28), U. americana L. (IV of 12), and Celtis occidentalis L. (IV of 28) which were common in the smaller diameter classes, with Fraxinus quadrangulata Michx. (IV of 18) and Quercus macrocarpa Michx. (IV of 8) common above 60 cm dbh. The woods had a stand composition of 283.8 stems/ha and a basal area of 25.24 m2/ha. The woody seedling and sapling layers were dominated by Acer saccharum, with Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal. abundant in some areas. The herbaceous layer was dominated by Laportea canadensis (L.) Wedd. with Hydrophyllum virginianum L. and Asarum canadense L. common.
Seventy-two vascular plant species were collected from five temporary sand ponds located on intensively farmed agricultural land in Cass and Mason Counties, Illinois, including 43 wetland obligate (OBL), 13 facultative wetland (FACW), 8 facultative (FAC), 5 facultative upland (FACU), and 3 upland (UPL) species. Of these, Scirpus hallii A. Gray, Scirpus purshianus Fern., and Boltonia decurrens (Torr. & Gray) Wood are endangered in Illinois. These ponds are farmed in dry years, but retain water during years of above average precipitation, such as 1974 and 1993. The continued reemergence of these plants during wet years suggests the persistence of seeds of these species within the soil seed bank.