Noteworthy collections: Alabama

Castanea, Mar 2003 by Woods, Michael, Diamond, Alvin R Jr, Searcy, Darryl N

Cayaponia quinqueloba (Raf.) Shinners (CUCURBITACEAE)-Escambia County: climbing on Pinus glabra Walt. adjacent to Burnt Corn Creek Bridge north of U.S. Hwy. 31, 10 June 2001, Searcy s.n. (TROY).

Significance. Although this species has been reported from 11 southeastern states (USDA, NRCS 2001), this record represents only the third collection from Alabama. The other two collections, MacDonald 11396 and 11522, are deposited in the herbarium at The University of Alabama (UNA). Both of MacDonald's collections were made from Geneva County along the Pea River and Choctawhatchee River. Our Escambia County collection is some 170 km west of the nearest Geneva County location.

Clinopodium gracile (Benth.) Kuntz (LAMIACEAE)-Conecuh County: wet sandy soil of roadside ditch in full sun along Conecuh County Hwy. 77 about 60 m north of U.S. Hwy. 31 in Evergreen, 1 April 2000, Diamond 11656 (TROY).

Significance. This represents the first Alabama record for this species. Previously, it has been reported from Florida and Louisiana (USDA, NRCS 2001). In Florida, it is known from only two populations, both of which are in Escambia County, some 80 km south of our Alabama collection site (Wunderlin and Hansen 2000). The two Florida collections, Burkhalter 6908 and 13221, are deposited in the herbarium at the University of South Florida (USF).

Eupatorium ivifolium L. (ASTERACEAE)-Escambia County: along U.S. Hwy. 113 near mile marker number 12, 14 August 1999, Searcy s.n. (TROY).

Significance. This represents the first Alabama record and an extension eastward of the historical range for this species. Prior to this collection, the species was known from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas (USDA, NRCS 2001).

Pteris vittata L. (ADIANTACEAE)-Dale County: shady, moist area under footbridge at Dale County Lake, 6 June 2000, Pennington 759 (TROY).

Significance. This represents the second record of this species for Alabama and the first report since Harper 4456 (UNA) collected it in 1960 along Government Street in Mobile. This collection is some 240 km northeast of Harper's original collection. This tropical China native is a rare escape from cultivation (Radford et al. 1968). In the United States, it has become naturalized in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas (USDA, NRCS 2001).

Crocosmia Xcrocosmiiflora (V. Lemoine ex E. Morr.) N. E. Br. (LILIACEAE)-Geneva County: cut-over land on west side of un-numbered road 0.8 km south of Geneva County Hwy. 4, 31 July 2001, Diamond 12580 (TROY).

Significance. This is the first record of this taxon for Alabama. It is a hybrid between two eastern South African parents, Crocosmia aurea (Pappe ex Hook.) Planch and Crocosmia pottsii Baker, and has been grown in warmer parts of the southeastern United States where it occasionally escapes cultivation (Radford et al. 1968). In the United States, it has been reported from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, California, and Oregon. (USDA, NRCS 2001).

Nomenclature for all species follows Kartesz (1994).

LITERATURE CITED

KARTESZ, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland, 2nd ed. Volume I. Checklist. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

RADFORD, A.E., H.E. AHLES, and C.R. BELL. 1968. Manual of the vascular flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

USDA, NRCS 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

WUNDERLIN, R.P. and B.F. HANSEN 2000. Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/). [S.M. Landry and K.N. Campbell (application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Received June 13, 2002; Accepted August 17, 2002.

The authors would like to thank the curators of Florida State University (FSU) and the University of South Florida (USF) for their contribution to this manuscript.-MICHAEL WOODS and ALVIN R. DIAMOND, JR., DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL and ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES, TROY STATE UNIVERSITY, TROY, ALABAMA 36082; DARRYL N. SEARCY, HC-60, Box 36E, RANGE, ALABAMA 36473. Woods email address: mwoods@troyst.edu