Alabama

Castanea, Jun 2003

Sagittaria secundifolia Kral (ALISMATACEAE)-Coosa County: Hatchet Creek, 17 May 2001, S. J. Threlkeld 1427 and E. C. Soehren (UNA, JSU).

Significance. This represents the first range extension outside of the Cumberland Plateau. The type locality of Sagittaria secundifolia is Little River in Dekalb County near the G.E. Hill bridge of AL 35 in Alabama. (Kral 1982). Biltmore Herbarium collectors made earlier collections from Little River and Roland M. Harper from Town Creek in Dekalb County, Alabama (Whetstone et al. 1987). These were the only known populations until Whetstone et al. (1987) located a new population on the East Fork of Little River in Chattooga County, Georgia (Whetstone 15370). A search of the State Lands Division's Natural Heritage section's Database provided one additional record for Winston County, Alabama along the Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River in Bankhead National Forest. All known populations were within the Cumberland Plateau Section of the Appalachian Plateau Province of Alabama and Georgia. Town Creek is located on Sand Mountain, and Little River flows atop Lookout Mountain. The Sipsey Fork of the Black Warrior River flows off the southwestern edge of the Plateau. The known population from Town Creek is now extirpated (Kral 1983).

Hatchet Creek arises in the Ashland Plateau of the Piedmont Uplands and flows southwesterly off the Fall Line terminating into Lake Mitehell of the Coosa River. Five separate populations were located along a 19.3 km section of the creek. These new populations are ca. 160 km (100 miles) from the type locality on Little River. These populations were observed growing submerged in crevices of exposed metamorphic and igneous bedrock of the Rockford Granite formation. Four of the five populations were growing in faulted crevices of bedrock associated with shoals. As described by Kral (1982), the orientation of crevices ranged from perpendicular to angles less than perpendicular to the stream. Three of the five populations were small with sterile plants covering an area less than 0.25 m^sup 2^ in size. In these three populations only 6-8 inflorescences where observed in flower or bud. Of the remaining two populations, one population had sterile plants that covered an area of 0.5 m^sup 2^ and the largest covering 1 m^sup 2^. Eleven inflorescences were observed in flower or bud in the 1 m^sup 2^ population, only sterile plants were observed in the 0.5 m2 population. All populations were growing in association with other emergent species including Hymenocallis coronaria Linnaeus, Orontium aquaticum Linnaeus, and Justica americana (Linnaeus) Vahl. Terrestrial vegetation observed growing along the creek course was Kalmia latifolia Linnaeus, Rhododendron minus Michaux, Hamamelis virginiana Linnaeus, Alnus serrulata (Aiton) Willdenow, Carpinus caroliniana Walter, Ostrya virginiana (P. Miller) K. Koch, Apios americana Medicus, Onoclea sensibilis Linnaeus, Osmunda regalis var. spectablis Linnaeus, and Osumnda cinomomema Linnaeus.

We thank Robert Haynes (UNA) for the confirmation of the specimen and initial review of the manuscript; an additional thanks is extended to David Whetstone, Dan Spaulding (JSU) and Paul A. Schmalzer of the Kennedy Space Center for comments and reviewing the manuscript.-STEVEN J. THRELKELD and ERIC C. SOEHREN, NATURAL HERITAGE SECTION, STATE LANDS DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OP CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES, MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36130. email address: sthrelkeld@dcnr.state.al.us

LITERATURE CITED

KRAL, R. 1982. A new phyllodial-leaved Sagittaria (Alismaceae) from Alabama. Brittonia 34:12-17.

KRAL, R. 1983. A report on some rare, threatened, or endangered forest-related vascular plants of the South. U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Southern Region Techn. Publ. R8-TP 2. Atlanta, Georgia.

WHETSTONE, R.D., C.L. LAWLER, L.H. HOPKINS, A.L. MARTIN, and C.C. DICKSON. 1987. Kral's water-plantain, Sagittaria secundifolia Kral (Alismataceae), new to Georgia. Castanea 52:313-314.

Received November 2, 2001; Accepted February 7, 2003.