CAREX BALTZELLII (CYPERACEAE) NEW TO MISSISSIPPI WITH NOTES ON CAREX PICTA AND CAREX IMPRESSINERVIA IN MISSISSIPPI

7 Pages·1991·2.8 MB·English

by  Charles T Bryson

CAREX BALTZELLll (CYPERACEAE) NEW TO
MISSISSIPPI WITH NOTES ON CAREX PICTA
AND CAREX IMPRESSINERVIA IN MISSISSIPPI
CHARLEST. BRYSON
USDA,SAtoRneSml,lSeo,utMheSrn5SW1e1e6d.SciUe.nSce.AL.aboratory
SAM W. ROSSO
University ofSouthernMississippi
Hattmburg MS39406, U.S.A.
.
ROBERTE C. NACZI
Unii'ersityofMichiganHerbarium
North UniversityBuilding
AnnArbor, Ml, 48109-1037, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
Can-xIhillZi'lliiwasdiscoveredforthefirsttimeinMississippifromMarionCounty.The
southwesternrangelimitotC..pictawasextendedbyitsdiscoveryinMarionandPearlRiver
counties, Mississippi. Cari^ximprtsunerviawasrelocatedinForrestand Marioncounties,
Mississippi. Habitatinformationwasacquiredforeachspecies.
INTRODUCTION
Therecordsreportedhereinarefrommesicravinesalongminorstreams
insouthernMississippi. TheseravinesareintheLongleafPineBeltofthe
East GulfCoastal Plain Region ofthe southern portion ofMississippi
(Lowe 1921). Theravinesarecomposedofrelativelyopen,predominantly
hardwood forests along small streams. The hilltops above these ravines
supportadryPinus,Quercus,andCaryaforestwithshrubspeciesincluding
Cornus, Ilex, and Wacciniuni.
The Ragland Hills area ofForrest and Perry counties and the Devil's
Backbone area ofMarion and Pearl River counties, Mississippi include
someofthemostruggedterrainandunusualfloraofsouthernMississippi.
Although apart oftheLongleafPineBeltofMississippi, theseareas in-
cludeanunusualdiversityofswamps, sandhills, bottomland hardwoods,
and upland forests ofpines, mixedpine-hardwoods, and hardwoods. Of
special interest to many botanists are the beech-magnolia communities
found within the mesic ravines, which rangein elevation from approxi-
Sii>A l4(3):493-499. 1991.
494
mately 150 feeton thelowerslopes toabout 300feeton theuppermost
crests.
ThesurfaceandnearsurfacematerialsconsistofMiocene-AgeHatties-
burg and Pascagoula clays, Plio-PleistoceneCitronellegravel and clays,
and/or Holocene elastics (Mississippi Geol. Soc. Map 1969; D. Patrick
pcrs. comm. 1991). Soils of the ridge crests and slopes of the mesic
hardwood areas are usually characterized as brown silt loams orgrayish
brown sandy loams(USDA 1979, 1983, and 1985).
ThefloraofRaglandHillshasbeenintensivelystudied(Rogers 1977),
whereasthatottheDevil'sBackboneareaislesswellknown. Ofthe 1019
species listed forthe 3600acreRagland Hillsarea, 15 arcconsideredas
rare,threatened,orofspecialconcernbytheMississippiNaturalHeritage
Program(MississippiNatural HeritageProgram 1987). Surveysinitiated
in 1989wereresponsibleforrelocatingsevenoftherarerspecies(Rossoand
McPhail 1989and Rossoetal. 1990); however, CareximpnsunennaBry-
son, Krai, andManhartandseveralothersremainedunobserveduntilthe
report herein (Rossoand McPhail in press).
CARl'X BAI'IZIILI.II NHWTO MISSISSIPPI
Formanyyears,CarexbaltzdliiChapm.exDeweywasknownonlyfrom
thetypelocalityinnorthwesternFlorida(Mackenzie 1933)andfromadja-
centGeorgia(Mackenzie 1935). Itisararespeciesthatisfoundinmesic,
sandy loam ravines in the lower Coastal Plain in extreme southeastern
AlabamaandsouthwesternGeorgiaandintheAppalachicolaandChatta-
hoochee River areas ofnorthwestern Florida (Krai 1983). According to
Krai,C. ballzi'lliiisalwaysfoundonmoist, well-drained,humifiedsandy
soilsinsteepravines. ItbloomsinFebruaryandfruitsinMarchandApril.
While trying to relocate previously known populations of C. ini-
pressinervia, wediscovered C. haltzelliionsteepslopes inanarrow ravine
aboveasmallstream inMarionCounty,Mississippi. Theplantsappeared
somewhatlikeC.pictaSteudelbutdifferedbytheirmoreerecthabitand
glaucousvesture. Incontrasttothecolonialstructureasfirstdescribedfor
C. puta by Charles C. Deam (Hermann 1940), plants did not form the
typicalcirculartuftswith hollowcenters. Uponcloserinspection, itwas
determinedthattheplantwasnotdioeciousasmC.pictabutwasactually
C. haltzellu.
DiscoveryofC. haltzelliiinMississippiextendstherangeofthisspecies
westwardbyabout375 miles. CarexhaltzelliiandC. impressmerviaarclis-
tedamong"candidatesforpossibleadditiontotheListofEndangeredand
Threatened Plants," category 2, by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(1990). Collection dataforC. haltzellii in Mississippi aregiven below.
,
495
MISSISSIPPI.MarionCo.:Devil'sBackbone,EofMSHwy43about17airmiSSEof
Columbia, 11Apr1991,C.T.Bryson10658&S.W./?o«o(ctb-CharlesT.Brysonpersonal
herbarium,IBE,MICH,SWSL,USM-UniversityofSouthernMississippi);Devil'sBack-
bone,EofMSHwy43about18airmiSSEofColumbia,26Apr1991C.'/:Bryson10729,
R. I'. C. Naczi. r. li. Newton,&S. W. Rosso(ctb).
AssociatesontheslopewithC.baltzelliiincludeAcersaaharum,Arisaema
dracontium. A. qiiinatum, Aristolochiaserpentaria, Bercheniiawanclens, Calli-
carpaamerkana. Carexahscondita. C. digitalisvdii.asymmetnca, C.striatula,
Carpinns carolintana, Carya sp., Cornusflorida, Dircapahistris, Euonymus
amerkanus, Fagusgrandijolia,Halexiadiptera. Hexastylisarifolia, Ilexopaca,
lllicium floridanum, Kalmia lattfolia, Liriodendron tulipifera, Magnolia
grandiflora, M. macrophylla, M. pyramidata, Quercus alba, Smilax sp.,
TriUiiimsp.,andViolasp. Presentdownslopealongthestreamjustbelow
C. baltzelliiwereCarexabscondita,C.atlanticassp.atlantica, C. crebriflora
C.debilis,C.leptaleaandC.unlldenowii.AllC.baltzelliiclumpswerefound
onahumic, coarsesandy loamsoils thatwereonsteepslopesjustabove
streams. Fewerthan 50 clumpsofC. baltzelliiwerelocated.
CAKi:x IMPRESSINERVIA INMISSISSIPPI
CareximpressinerviawasfirstcollectedinMississippi by Ken Rogersin
theRagland HillsareainForrestCountyandwasidentifiedastheclosely
related C. oligocarpa Schkuhr (Rogers 1977). At the time that C. im-
pressinerviawasdescribed(Brysonetal. 1987),theseniorauthorhadspent
severaldaysinthefieldaloneandwithWillMcDearman(MMNS)trying
to relocatethe population inForrestCountyandfindadditional popula-
tions. Despite theseeffortsandthoseofRobertF. C. Naczi(MICH), the
ForrestandMarionCountypopulationswerenotrelocated(NacziandBry-
son 1990).
InearlyMarch, 1991, SamW. Rossolocatedapopulationofapproxi-
mately 50clumpsofC impressinervtaintheRaglandHillsareaofForrest
County. After several visits to the Devil's Backbone area in 1991, the
authorsfoundthisspeciesinsteep, mesicravinesinMarionCounty,Mis-
sissippi. The Devil's Backbonepopulationconsistsofabout 200clumps
scatteredalongseveralnarrowterracedravines. Therediscoveryissignifi-
cant because C. impressinervia may well be the rarest Carex endemic to
eastern North America. Collection data for C. impressinervia are given
below.
MISSISSIPPI. ForrestCo.: RaglandHills, 21 Mar 1991,S. W. Rosso91-11! (ctb,
UDeSvMil)';sB1a1ckAbporne1,99E1,ofC.MST.HBwryyso4n3,10c6a.3018&aSi.rmWi.SRSosEsoof(cCtobl,uImBbEi,a,MI2C6HA)p.rM1a9r9i1o,nCC,o.T:.
Bryson10730,R. P.C.Naczi, T. E.Newton,8i.S. W. Rosso(ctb, IBE,VDB).
496
AswiththeAlabamapopulationsofC. impressinen>ia(Brysoneta!. 1987
and NacziandBtyson 1990), theForrestandMarionCountypopulations
arerestrictedtonarrowterracesatthebaseofslopesabovesmallstreams.In
eachcase,thesesmallstreamswerenarrowenoughtobecrossedbyasingle
step. Occasionally but rarely C. impressinennaplantswerefoundslightly
upslopeandalmost neveralongwetstream banks. Thenarrowmicroha-
bitatrequirementsofC.impressmerviamaybeonereasonthatitissorare.
InForrestCounty,C. impnssinerviciismostcloselyassociatedwithFagiis
grandijolia. Other woody associates include Acer iaaharum, Ilex opaca,
lUiciinnfloruhiuKm.Kulmialatifolia. Itriodendnmtulipifera,Magnoliagrandi-
Jlora. M. macrophylla. Ostryavirginiatia. Quercusalba, Rhusradicans,Smilax
sp. andMittssp. UnliketheAlabamasites, C.pictaandC. striatulaoccur
C
)ust above impressinervia. Additional associates immediately upslope
were Callicarpa ainericana. Cornusflortda, ¥raxiniis sp., Mitchella repens,
Polystichuni acrostichoides, Steivartia malacodendron, and Vaccinium elliottii.
Other herbs in close proximity with C. impressmervia were Aristolochia
serpentaria. Carexlaxiflora van serridata, Hexastylisarijolia, and Viola sp.
DownslopewereCarexahscondita, C. debilis. C. digitalisvan asymmetrtca,
Euonymns americani/s, and Sebastiana ligiistrina. The associates for the
MarionCountylocationaresimilartothatoftheForrestCountystation
with oneexception. Dircapalustriswaspresent in Marion County.
Ai:>lMriONAI. R1X;C)RDSOfCAREX PU/VA IN MISSISSn>Pl
Carexpicta Steudel has not been previously reportedfrom Marionand
Pearl River counties in Mississippi. Apparently, these records are the
southwestcrnmoststationsforthisspeciesinMississippiandintheUnited
States. AccordingtoNclwynGilmoreMclnnisoftheLouisianaHeritage
Program (pers. comm. Apr 1991) the type locality ofC. picta cited as
"Drummond{s.n.) Louisiana, N. Orleans" (Mackenzie 19.33) isevidently
inaccurateand probably refers tothe herbarium wherethespecimen was
housedoritwasjustagenericlocalitythatDrummondhadashisbaseor
where he shipped specimens (A. A. Reznicek pers. comm. May 1991).
Reznicck also suggested that it would be interesting to look through
Drummond'sitinerariestoseeifhetraveledupthePearlRivenSuchatrip
might have been a logical trip trom New Orleans in those days. Both
theoriesmay explain why thereareotherreferences toplantssupposedly
collected in southern Louisianaby early botanists thatarccurrently un-
knownfromtheNewOrleansarea. TheonlyconfirmedrecordsofC.picta
cited in Louisianaare from the northern partofthestate in Bossierand
Jacksonparishes (MacRoberts 19H8).
OladditionalsignificanceisthefactthatinMarionCountyC.baltzellii,
497
Carex picta
FIG. 1.DistributionofCarexpictainMississippi.
C. impressinervia, and C. pictaarefoundonthesamebluffaboveasmall
tributaryofthePearlRiver.Thesespeciesarenotcommonatthislocality.
Themicrohabitatswereisolatedfromoneanotherbyslopepositionand,to
some degree, soil texture. Carex impressinervia and C. picta were found
higheruptheslopesthanC. haltzellii. Allthreeweregrowingonhighly
humicloamsoils. However, thesoiltexturewasafinergrainloamunder
theC.pictathanthesoilunderC.haltzellii.Thesoiltexturewasevenfiner
grain underC impressinervia.
AdistributionmapbasedonexaminationofspecimensfromMississippi
(ctb, IBE, MISS, MISSA, MMNS, USM)isshowninFigure 1. Thenew
collectiondataforC. picta in Mississippi follow.
MISSISSIPPI.MarionCo.:Devil'sBackbone,EofMSHwy43,ca. 17airmiSSEof
Columbia, II Apr 1991,C. T. Bryson10648&S. W. Rosso(ctb, IBE,MICH,SWSL);
Devil'sBackbone,EofMSHwy43,ca. 18airmiSSEofColumbia,26Apr 1991,C. T.
CBor.y;soEna1n0d72W6.oRf.MIS'.CH.wNyac4z3i.ca.T.3E.miNeSwotfoMna,r&iloSn.-PWe.arRlosRsiove(crtCh,ouMnItCyHl,ine(,JS1M2)A.pPrea1r9l91R,ivCe.r
'/;Bi-yson10678{c:h,IBE,MICH);26Apr1991,C.T.Bryson10754.R.F.C.Naczi.T.E.
Nc'irton,&S. W. Rosso(ctb,MMNS).
Eachpopulationisrestrictedtoasmallareaoflessthan 100squarefeet
498
except the population located in Marion Countyon 26 Apr 1991 which
coversasouth-facingslopeofmorethan 10,000squarefeet.Inthispopula-
tionthereareseveralthousandcirculartosemi-circularclumps.ThePearl
River County population is the smallest and consists offewer than 30
widely scattered small clumps.
TheassociatedspeciesforC.pictaweresimilartothoseofC. haltzellii\
however, the following species were only found upslope with C. pkta:
Arnudnuiridgigantea, Ccirexdigitalisvan macropoda. C. laxijloravar. serru-
late!, Sauiciilacanadensis. Sangninariacanadensis. Uvularlagrandiflora, and
Yi/ccaJdanientosavar.snialiiana. Thewoodyspeciesmostcloselyassociated
with C. haltzellii. C. impressinervia, and C. pictawasFagusgrandifolia.
A(:KNOWI.i;i)C,MliNTS
The authors are grateful to Richard Carter (VSC), Will McDearman
(MMNS), andA. A. Reznicek(MICH)forreviewingthemanuscriptand
providing helpful information; to Nelwyn Gilmore Mclnnis, Louisiana
Natural Heritage Program, BatonRogue, LouisianaandCaryNorquist,
U.S. FishandWildlifeService,Jackson,Mississippiforprovidmginform-
ation about the status of Carexpicta and C. haltzellii, respectively; Dr.
David Patrick, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mis-
sissippiforprovidinggeologicalinformation;theMississippiDepartment
ofWildlife, Fisheries, and Parks-WildlifeHeritageTaxcheck-offFund,
theUniversityofSouthernMississippi,theU.S.ForestryService,andNa-
tional Science Foundation grant no. BSR-9001260 for partial financial
support for thejuniorauthors.
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