APGA/USFS Tree Gene Conservation Partnership 2020 Collecting Trip Report for Quercus Boyntonii

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APGA/USFS Tree Gene Conservation Partnership 2020 Collecting Trip Report for Quercus boyntonii

Report Prepared by

Report prepared by

Tracy Cook Huntsville Botanical Garden

Patrick Thompson Auburn University Davis Arboretum

January 29, 2021

Table of Contents

Cover Page ...... 1 Report Prepared by ...... 2 Table of Contents ...... 3 Project Overview ...... 7 Objectives ...... 8 Methods ...... 8 Summary of Daily Activities ...... 9 Thursday, July 30 ...... 9 Friday, July 31 ...... 10 Thursday, August 20 ...... 12 Friday, August 21 ...... 12 Thursday, August 27 ...... 13 Friday, August 28 ...... 14 Thursday, October 15 ...... 15 Friday, October 16 ...... 16 Friday, October 23 ...... 17 Saturday, October 24 ...... 18 Sunday, October 25 ...... 19 Thursday, November 12 ...... 20

Summary of Populations ...... 20 Autauga County ...... 20 Chilton County ...... 20 Shelby County ...... 21 Jefferson County ...... 21 St. Clair County ...... 21 Blount County ...... 21 Etowah County ...... 22 Plant Materials Collected ...... 22 Distribution ...... 23 Project Accomplishments ...... 23 Detailed census and mapping ...... 24 Exploration ...... 25 Noteworthy Observations...... 25 Habitat ...... 25 Herbivory...... 26 Fire Tolerance ...... 27 Growth Habits ...... 28 Recognition of 5 Super-specimens ...... 32 Presumed Hybrids Identified and Mapped ...... 36 Germplasm collection ...... 37 Future Directions ...... 38 Acknowledgements ...... 38 References ...... Error! Bookmark not defined. Appendix I: List of Participants and Contact Information...... 39 Appendix II: Map Survey Sites ...... 41

Table of Figures Figure 1: Distribution of QUBO range based on herbarium specimens. Source: The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). North American Plant Atlas. (http://www.bonap.org/napa.html). 7 Figure 2: Outcrops have been pinned as potential spots to find QUBO on the ridge of Double Oak Mountain. In this photo you can see Oak Mountain runs parallel to the west. The ridge habitat has been replaced with a string of houses. 9 Figure 3: EBSCO East, Slick Rock site on Double Oak Mountain. This, like many suitable habitats the team searched, did not result in the location of new occurrences of QUBO. 10

Figure 4: Specimens growing on the ridge of Double Oak Mountain overlooking the Belcher Tract and across the valley, Double Mountain. Tracy Cook included for scale, showing how these achieve the character of an aged tree while maintaining a relatively short stature. 11 Figure 5: Only 2% of the QUBO inspected during this project were observed to have produced more than 100 acorns in 2020. Of those 11 plants that produced >100 acorns, 8/11 of them were in the Oak Mountain and Double Oak Mountain population. 12 Figure 6: A remnant population of QUBO in Irondale severely impacted by a suite of non-native invasive plant species. Here Ligustrum sinense crowds the QUBO from roots to crown. 13 Figure 7: Autauga County QUBO 14 Figure 8: QUBO in the rain of Hurricane Laura 14 Figure 9: The first acorn collections of the project were the first known collections of QUBO from Blount County. 15 Figure 10: Noah Yawn stands on outcrop looking into a wall of Q. georgiana and Q. boyntonii. 16 Figure 11: Acorn shape and coverage of cupule varied greatly within populations 17 Figure 12: Image of the series of rock outcrops identified from aerial imagery and labeled with coordinate pins Rock1 – Rock 14 for scouting between known occurrences of QUBO within Oak Mountain State Park along the southeast ridge of Double Oak Mountain. 18 Figure 13: QUBO coming out of a soil pocket on a slope. 18 Figure 14: Watch your step! 19 Figure 15: QUBO groundcover with a pair of vertical leaders in a pine oak hickory savannah on the crest of Double Oak Mountain. 19 Figure 16: QUBO stems persisting in a small soil pocket with mosses, Opuntia humifusa, and a recently deceased Pinus virginiana that had been naturally bonsaied by the limited root space, and perhaps decades of root competition with the QUBO. 20 Figure 17: Pines killed by drought are an issue at the Hinds Road Rock Outcrop Population. 22 Figure 18: Riparian QUBO habitat in the Cumberland Plateau Physiographic Region. 26 Figure 19: Savannah habitat where QUBO was found on Double Oak Mountain 26 Figure 20: Three species of larval Lepidoptera were documented feeding on QUBO: Anisota sp., Acronicta sp, and Anisota virginiensis. 26 Figure 21: The trunks were charred to a height of 2m on the Pinus palustris (right) and the QUBO (center) indicating significant fire intensity. Healthy new growth on the QUBO suggests they possess a good degree of fire tolerance. 27 Figure 22: Charred trunk of QUBO and a single new stem emerging from the base of the trunk. 27 Figure 23: QUBO rhizomatous stems expanding colonially with no dominant leader. 28 Figure 24: Noah Yawn searching for acorns on a single trunk small QUBO tree. 28 Figure 25: Lynn Purser and Noah Yawn counting stems of a single trunk small QUBO tree with rhizomatous stems expanding colonially in Oak Mountain State Park. 29 Figure 26: Medium single leader QUBO tree with rhizomatous stems. 29 Figure 27: Medium QUBO trees without rhizomatous stems. 30 Figure 28: QUBO exhibiting a multi-stem shrub form. 31 Figure 29: QUBO exhibiting a multi-stem copse habit. 31 Figure 30: The Oak Mountain Monster: This presumed individual at Oak Mountain State Park has 52 trunks with an average dbh 12.7 cm and a fairly uniform height of 10 meters. It also has 179 stems that exist at the ground level with very little intermediate growth and extended 15 m along the ridge with a width of 10m. 32 Figure 31: Oak Mountainous Maximus: An amazing plant so large our entire team sat down to lunch under it’s branches and decided measuring it would require and entire day. The plant extended for about 35 meters along the ridge in a protracted oval shape about 15 m wide through much of its core. The number of stems and trunks could reach over one thousand. 32

Figure 32: Irondale’s Ironsider: The only Jefferson county super-specimen is the only one of the five that is not part of a thriving population. This makes it the most likely super-specimen to become a total loss at the genetic level. The property owner is very aware of the plant as it dominates his backyard. He repeatedly pushes back the non-native invasive species, but they persist. 33 Figure 33: The Blount County Beast: This EO is home to several vigorous mature specimens. This exceptional plant had found a location between and on top of a rock formation where it had attained a height and width of about 10 meters. The single trunk specimen had a dbh of 25cm. There were 30 smaller stems coming from the duff around the trunk, but none seemed to be attempting to grow into a tree form. Several hundred acorn caps were found under it, but it had apparently dropped many acorns early in the season and only 5 were collected. 34 Figure 34: Etowah Shelf Elf: An exceptional specimen 10 m in height. This one had 3 trunks with a maximum dbh of 24 cm. The presence of 64 surrounding stems are inconsequential compared to the mass of the 3 main trunks, and there was no intermediate growth or acorn production. 35 Figure 35: Quercus boyntonii co-occurring with Q. margarettae, and a presumed hybrid with intermediate leaf morphology. 36 Figure 36: Presumed Quercus boyntonii x alba. 36 Figure 37: Presumed Quercus boyntonii x montanta. 37 Figure 38: Presumed Quercus boyntonii x stellata. 37 Figure 39: New elemental occurrences from the Alabama Natural Heritage Program database as a result of this project Error! Bookmark not defined.

Table 1: QUBO acorn distribution record by county of collection for the 2020 Tree Gene Conservation Partnership Grant...... 23 Table 2: Summary of 2020 census of QUBO populations...... 24 Table 3: Specimen count summary comparison for ex situ holdings of QUBO with source information in 2019 (left) and ex situ holdings of QUBO with source information after 2020 collections (right). Follow up reports from partner institutions were a condition of receiving acorns collected for this project, allowing tracking of survival rates and term of success for these efforts...... 25

Project Overview

Quercus boyntonii (QUBO), commonly known as Boynton’s Oak or Alabama Sandstone Oak, is a rare tree reported from a six-county range in central Alabama (Figure 1). It is listed as an S1G1 species indicating the highest level of conservation need at a state and global level. Throughout its restricted range, occurrences of QUBO are small, geographically isolated, and declining. Acorn production is often low and may be influenced by the species clonal tendency in the localities with extremely small population size. The risk of inbreeding depression is a serious concern due to potentially low genetic variation. Morphology at several localities suggests possible introgression with more common oak species in the vicinity. Additional threats to the species include woody encroachment due to fire suppression in its habitat, invasive plant species competition, degraded habitat from land use changes, drought, and climate change. The Conservation Gap Analysis of US Oaks1 highlights conservation gaps for QUBO based on the life history traits and threats facing the species, and indicates that acorn collections for this species are underrepresented in ex situ collections across the country.

Botanic gardens, arboreta, universities, and other cultural organizations from across the country are interested in supporting rare oak conservation and are committed to growing and maintaining high quality documentation on conservation collections. In an effort to better understand distribution of this species and increase documented holdings of this species in living collections, Huntsville Botanical Garden partnered with Auburn University Davis Arboretum to scout populations and assess their health and collect acorns, when present, for propagation and distribution. This project has enabled the participating institutions to scout, collect, and distribute representative collections of wild origin plants from across the range of the species. A total of eleven institutions across the range of the species and eastern United States have agreed to accession germplasm resulting from this project, resulting in effective distribution for ex-situ conservation purposes.

Figure 1: Distribution of QUBO range based on herbarium specimens. Source: The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). North American Plant Atlas. (http://www.bonap.org/napa.html).

1Beckman, E., Meyer, A., Denvir, A., Gill, D., Man, G., Pivorunas, D., Shaw, K., & Westwood, M. (2019). Conservation Gap Analysis of Native U.S. Oaks. Lisle, IL: The Morton Arboretum.

Objectives

Estimates in 2019 placed QUBO at 25 subpopulations encompassing at least 300 individuals in what was believed to be 11 unique populations or elemental occurrences (EOs). Most of the EOs had been documented in the Alabama Plant Atlas, but the reports had not all been verified and submitted to the Alabama Natural Heritage Program, limiting information available to NatureServe and other institutions tracking rare species globally. Multiple EOs of QUBO were known to occur in four counties in Alabama (Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair), with singular occurrences reported from two additional counties in Alabama (Blount and Chilton) and historically from Texas. Beckman et al. (2019) completed a global ex situ survey for U.S. native oak species that indicates that QUBO is represented in 17 collections in North America, comprised of 320 individuals representing 70% of the full range of the species, but few were geolocated with locality notes. The species also has a high ex situ mortality rate during the establishment period even at the most qualified institutions, leading to sharp decreases in the reported number of ex situ holdings, uncharacteristic of this genus of typically resilient plants. This project aimed to increase the percentage of range represented in ex situ collections and increase the number of safeguarding accessions that have locality notes attached to the coordinates of the in situ locations. In order to increase the likelihood of wider genetic capture, scouting was conducted in areas within the species range and at the peripheries where QUBO had been reported, as well as sites where it had not been documented, but the species’ uncommon habitat requirements did exist. Specific objectives included:

1. Scout and document occurrences of QUBO reported from Autauga, Blount, Jefferson, and St. Clair counties. Explore approximately 20 km of backcountry ridgelines on Double Oak Mountain (Shelby County) with potential habitat. 2. Voucher and submit herbarium specimens of novel occurrences and maternal lines to the Alabama Natural Heritage Section Herbarium (ALNHS, Index Herbarium) in Montgomery, AL. and the United States National Arboretum Herbarium in Washington, D.C. 3. Record observations on the size, growth habit, and apparent health of individuals, seedling recruitment, and any potential threats to populations. Detailed observations were made at the level of individual trees at as many occurrences as time and funding allowed in order to determine the actual number of living individuals remaining of the species, and the viability of EO’s. 4. Collect acorns for distribution through the Plant Collections Network Quercus multi-site Collection and other botanical institutions within and near its geographic range, prioritizing localities for which there are few or no ex situ collections recorded.

Methods Individuals were determined by separation from an adjacent individual’s stems or trunks by a distance ≥ 1 m. Stem refers to vertical growth emerging from the ground with a diameter < 12.7 cm and ≥ 1.2 m tall. A trunk refers to vertical growth emerging from the ground with a diameter ≥ 12.7 cm and < 1.2 m tall. Elemental occurrences (EO) refers to individuals separated from other individuals by greater than 3 km. Any crowns with all stoloniferous stems under 61 cm tall and wide were considered juvenile individuals and evidence of recruitment.

Summary of Daily Activities

Thursday, July 30 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson joined Scott Pardue, a Manager at EBSCO Industries, to scout the EBSCO parcel North and East of Highway 280 in Shelby County. Scott gave access to the property and navigation aid throughout the parcel. He took us first to a scenic overlook, and nearby in the woods a single stoloniferous non-fruiting QUBO was located in a mowed clearing near along a ridgeline among Vaccinium arborescens, Quercus stellata, Quercus prinus, and Q. marilandica. The coppice of stems on this specimen were induced by the mowing in a way that historical fires may have once affected growth forms of this species. The team reached a promising sandstone glade referred to by EBSCO staff as Slick Rock by 11:30. A 45-minute search ensued via walking transects across the direction of the slope, but no QUBO were observed at that location. Eight rock outcrops that had been geo-located via satellite imagery were on the agenda, and travel on side roads required clearing of downed trees with a chainsaw on numerous occasions. Scouting promising habitat and the outcrops along the ridge of Double Oak Mountain throughout the day resulted in some scattered individuals located, although none were observed to be producing significant enough fruit to consider returning for collection this season. All occurrences were flagged in the GPS, and fruiting individuals noted for a return trip to collect acorns. The largest occurrence in terms of individuals located was recorded at a rock pile on the southern terminus of the ridge at 366 m above sea level (asl) on a 5% slope among Asimina parviflora, Carya glabra, Carya tomentosa, Pityopsis graminifolia, Quercus prinus, Gelsemium sempervirens, Quercus marilandica, Quercus stellata, Pinus palustris, Pinus taeda, Pycnanthemum muticum, Epimedium sp., Chionanthus virginicus, Vaccinium arboreum, Asplenium sp., Prunus alabamensis, Pteridum aquilinum, Vitus rotundifolia, Asclepias verticilata. Substantial dieback was observed on big stems of the 14 individuals recorded at this location. The parcel contained 10 km of ridgeline. Attempting to explore the entire property in a single day was ambitious, yet productive, resulting in 2 new EO’s for the species.

Figure 2: Outcrops have been pinned as potential spots to find QUBO on the ridge of Double Oak Mountain. In this photo you can see Oak Mountain runs parallel to the west. The ridge habitat has been replaced with a string of houses.

Figure 3: EBSCO East, Slick Rock site on Double Oak Mountain. This, like many suitable habitats the team searched, did not result in the location of new occurrences of QUBO. Friday, July 31 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson met at Moss Rock Preserve in Jefferson County, documenting several individuals on the west side of the property on the South East face of Shades Mountain on a sandstone glade in a section that ranged in elevation from 213m – 236 m asl. QUBO observed included two fruiting individuals with 6 and 11 developing acorns respectively, which were noted for monitoring later in the season. The stoloniferous habit was highly evident at this locality and many of the larger trunks had varying degrees of dieback. While the property is managed for QUBO by volunteers from the Friends of Moss Rock Preserve and the Alabama Plant Conservation Alliance, threats noted included drought damage, woody encroachment, and invasion by non-native plant species - primarily Ligustrum sinense, Nandina domestica, Mahonia sp., and Lonicera japonica. Associate species at the site include Berchemia scandens, Vitis rotundifolia, Vitis cinerea, Hypericum gentianoides, Acer rubrum, Pinus taeda, Pinus palustris, Amelanchier arborea, Gelsemium sempervirens, Liquidambar styraciflua, Commelina communis, Vaccinium elliottii, Rhododendron canescens, Phemeranthus mengesii, Nyssa sylvatica, Fragaria racemosa, Magnolia grandiflora, Quercus stellata (marilandica), Carya tomentosa, Rhus copallinum, Callicarpa americana, Prunus alabamensis, Ulmus alata, Rubus sp., Myrica cerifera, Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Liatris chapmanii, Pleopeltis polypodioides, Aristida lanosa, Cornus florida, Smilax bona-nox, Quercus rubra, Asimina triloba, Hamamelis virginiana, Hypolepis repens, Bigelowia nuttallii, Agalinis purprea, Cheilanthese tomentosa, Bignonia capreolata were also observed on the site.

By midday, the team was headed to Oak Mountain State Park in Shelby County to meet with the Park Naturalist to discuss project and obtain permits to collect. The meeting had to be postponed until later

10 that day, so Tracy and Patrick took the Les Miller Memorial (blue) Trail to scout for occurrences reported near King’s Chair. Six trees were located along the northeastern end of the ridgeline that had a range of morphology ranging from clearly QUBO to clearly Q. margarettae (see Figure 35 under Project Accomplishments) and this subpopulation was recorded as containing possible hybrids. None were fruiting. Associate species observed included Quercus marilandica, Quercus stellata, Quercus margarettae, Vaccinium arboreum, Heuchera americana, Carya tomentosa, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Vaccinium elliottii, Vitis rotundifolia, Asclepias linearis, Cheilanthes tomentosa, Toxicodendron radicans, Celtis tenuifolia, Hamamelis virginiana, Tradescautia sp., Rhus copallinum, Packera sp., Ptelea trifoliata, Pleopeltis polypodioides, Helianthus porteri, Asclepias tuberosa, Bignonia capreolata, Schizachyrium scoparium, Chasmanthium sessiflorum, and Toxicodendron pubescens.

As heavy rain and thunderstorms moved in, the team conducted a socially distanced meeting with Park Naturalist Lauren Muncher at the Peavine Falls Trailhead parking pavilion to discuss plans. Lauren was excited about the project and stated that while the park staff monitor the known occurrences monthly and plan to use fire as a management tool within the next two years to reduce the duff present, they did not have a baseline dataset from which to gauge the response to management efforts. A break in the weather allowed a brief survey of the closest glade, which had an abundance of QUBO individuals, including several that had many developing acorns.

Thursday, August 20 Tracy Cook, Patrick Thompson, and Frank Thompson met at the Peavine Falls trailhead parking to scout and document the QUBO at the southwestern end of the ridge in Oak Mountain State Park and scout for fruiting individuals for collection later in the season. Around midday, the crew was joined by Noah Yawn and 52 individuals, including 6 juveniles, were recorded using 0.9 m (3 ft) distance between QUBO stems (of any height) as the criterion for being recorded as a distinct individual. It became apparent that there is a distinct separation in the growth habit of larger trunks and stoloniferous stems from the same crown, so the team began recording number of trunks, DBH of the largest (living) trunk, and number of stems per individual at this site. A condition code was assigned to each individual recorded to denote vigorous, average, or declining health of the individual. Any crowns with only stoloniferous stems under 61cm (2 ft) tall and wide were considered juvenile individuals and evidence of recruitment.

Figure 5: Only 2% of the QUBO inspected during this project were observed to have produced more than 100 acorns in 2020. Of those 11 plants that produced >100 acorns, 8/11 of them were in the Oak Mountain and Double Oak Mountain population.

Friday, August 21 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson met at Oak Mountain State Park Peavine Falls parking to finish scouting and documenting the glade begun the day before. 53 individuals, including 2 juveniles were recorded, bringing the total to 105 QUBO recorded at the Peavine Falls glade, about 1/3 of trees were reproductive (34 individuals had developing acorns), but almost half of those (44%) had fewer acorns than CPC guidelines suggest harvesting. Threats noted at the site included seasonal drought, invasion by Ligustrum sinense, woody overgrowth/encroachment, and fuel loads that could result in injury of fire adapted species in the event of ignition.

With Peavine Falls glade survey completed by midafternoon, the team drove to Irondale to scout and document a QUBO EO on private property near Rock Ridge Road in Jefferson Co. Eleven individuals were found and recorded, although none was producing acorns. Although the resident owner is interested in protecting QUBO, the site is a utility easement that is heavily impacted by invasive plant species and overgrown woody species with housing on all sides. Liriope spicata, Toxicodendron radicans, Prunus caroliniana, Prunus serotina, Cercis canadensis, Carya pallida, Liquidambar styraciflua, Lonicera

12 japonica, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Vitis rotundiloba, Nandina domestica, Rubus sp., Pinus echinata, Pinus taeda, Hedra helix, Calicarpa americana, Ulmus alata, Phytolacca decandra, Smilax bona-nox, Firmiana simplex, and Yucca flaccida co-occurred at this location.

Figure 6: A remnant population of QUBO in Irondale severely impacted by a suite of non-native invasive plant species. Here Ligustrum sinense crowds the QUBO from roots to crown. Thursday, August 27 Tracy Cook, Patrick Thompson, Noah Yawn, and Katie Kucejko met at a church in Autauga County and caravanned to private property to scout for unconfirmed QUBO occurrences at a locality the team referred to as Turnpike 2. The team recorded 7 individuals (including 3 saplings) that had characteristics consistent with QUBO, but may be hybridized or simply an expression of the spectrum leaf morphology within Q. margarettae. Two trees had under 10 developing acorns each. Vouchers were collected to help resolve identification ambiguity. An indisputable ID will hopefully be achieved with future genomic investigation. Associate species included Acer rubrum, Antennaria plantaginifolia, Asclepias amplexicaulis, Asplenium platyneuron, Callicarpa americana, Carya pallida, Carya tomentosa, Chionanthus virginicus, Crataegus sp., Croton willdenowii, Dichanthelium sp., Elephantopus carolinianus, Euphorbia sp., Gelsemium sempervirens, Hypericum gentianoides, Hypericum sp., Ilex vomitoria, Juniperus virginiana, Lespedeza cuneata, Ligustrum sinense, Liquidambar styraciflua, Agave virginica, Muscadinia rotundifolia, Packera anonyma, Parthenocissus quinquefolius, Pinus taeda, Pityopsis graminifolia, Polygala nana, Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium, Quercus stellata, Quercus falcata, Quercus

13 margarettiae, Quercus nigra, Rhus copallinum, Smilax glauca, Smilax rotundifolia, Spiranthes sp., Vaccinium arboreum, and Yucca filamentosa.

After pressing vouchers, the team drove to the EBSCO Belcher tract to record occurrences and scout for fruit. Jason Blackerby from EBSCO met the team and gave access to the property. Twenty-three QUBO individuals were documented including 12 with developing acorns, although half of those had fewer acorns than CPC guidelines suggest harvesting. One of the subpopulations surveyed on the Belcher Tract is inside a prescribed burn unit. The fire had been planned and executed by the Alabama Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in 2018. TNC’s Mountain Longleaf Pine Conservation Coordinator Alex Varner had included Thompson on a follow up assessment of the burn in 2019, specifically to observe effects on QUBO. This follow up visit showed that the understory was still more open than areas outside the burn unit, and the Q. boyntonii continued to thrive. Acorn set within the burn unit was similar to other sites observed this season. The team ran out of daylight before completing full coverage of the intended scouting area.

Figure 7: Autauga County QUBO Friday, August 28 Effects from Hurricane Laura impacted field work, but after a planning meeting, Tracy Cook, Patrick Thompson, and Katie Kucejko caravanned to the Moss Rock Preserve’s boulder field parking and hiked in to the sandstone glade on the south end of the Preserve to scout for fruiting individuals. Two trees in average to vigorous condition were located and marked with the GPS, but neither held acorns. As the weather deteriorated, the team regrouped to plan and prioritize the remaining scouting and collection trips.

Figure 8: QUBO in the rain of Hurricane Laura

Thursday, October 15 Tracy Cook, Patrick Thompson, Noah Yawn, and Zac Napier met at a private residence in Blountsville, AL to scout and document reported occurrences of QUBO from Blount County. The property owners led the team down a trail to open sandstone bordering the Locust Fork River near Cornelius Falls. The team counted 64 individuals in a 2-hour search, and documented and collected acorns from four individuals. The majority of trees observed on the site were mature and a higher proportion than average had abundant acorns. Associate species included Vaccinium arboretum, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Spiranthes sp., Platanus occidentalis, Betula nigra, Bignonia capriolata, Sphagnum sp., Mitchella repens, Gelsemium, Liquidambar styraciflua, Acer rubrum, Ulmus alata, Biglowea, Prunus virginiana, Pinus taeda, Quercus montana, Smilax bona-nox, Liatris microcephala, Chionanthus virginica, Chasmanthium sessiliflorum, Andropogon sp., Juniperus virginiana, Packera ambigua, Vitis sp., Solidago sp., Rhus copallinum, Chasmanthium latifolium, Lonicera pileata, Fagus grandifolia, Ilex opaca, Viburnum acerifolium, Berchemia scandens, and Callicarpa americana.

Figure 9: The first acorn collections of the project were the first known of QUBO from Blount County.

After lunch, the team scouted Mardis Mill Falls (Blount Co.) which had promising sandstone glade habitat. No QUBO were located at the site.

Patrick Thompson called ahead to the property manager of a hunting club parcel on Lynch Lake Road in St. Clair County, who permitted access. The team parked at the gate and hiked in on the dirt road to a glade seen from satellite imagery. Abundant Quercus georgiana were seen on the way to the glade, and Patrick Thompson collected coordinates for a few individuals to mark the location. Forty-seven QUBO were counted at the Lynch Lake Road property and an estimated 80% of individuals were fruiting among Acer rubrum, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Amelanchier cf. laevis, Asplenium platyneuron, Bignonia capreolata, Calycanthus floridus, Carya pallida, Castanea dentata, Celtis tenuifolia, Chionanthus

15 virginicus, Chrysopsis mariana, Crataegus sp., Helianthus porteri, Liatris microcephala, Ligustrum sinense, Lonicera japonica, Myriopteris tomentosa, Nyssa sylvatica, Opuntia cf. humifusa, Packera anonyma, Pinus taeda, P. virginiana, Prunus alabamensis, P. serotina, Quercus alba, Q. georgiana, Q. nigra, Q. falcata, Q. stellata, Symphyotrichum georgianum, S. patens, Tiarella cordifolia, Vaccinium arborescens, V. pallidum, V. elliottii, and Viburnum cf. rufidulum. Abundant seedling recruitment was observed at the site, and acorns and vouchers were collected from two individuals as dusk was closing in.

Figure 10: Noah Yawn stands on outcrop looking into a wall of Q. georgiana and Q. boyntonii.

Friday, October 16 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson met early to plan the collection strategy for the remaining localities based on acorn abundance earlier in the growing season and taking into consideration previous collections made by the PCN Quercus multisite partners – priority was given to locations from which fewer samples had been collected. Zac Napier had identified QUBO on a new home site and arranged a meeting with the property owner on Shook Hill Circle in Jefferson County midmorning. The owner was enthusiastic about protecting native species on the property, especially the two (average-condition, non-fruiting) QUBO the team documented. Thompson was enthused about the numerous Q. georgiana encountered on all sides of the property. The site was heavily impacted by invasive plant species and under construction. Associate species observed on the site included Ligustrum sinense, Clematis terniflora, Nandina domestica, Lonicera tatarica, Sicyos angulatus, Lonicera japonica, Berchemia scadens, Ilex vomitoria, Liatris, Opuntia sp., Magnolia grandiflora, Pinus taeda, Quercus georgiana,

Quercus geminata(?) or Quercus phellos, Photina sp., Quercus nigra, Chionanthus virginica, Clematis sp., and Prunus caroliniana.

From there, Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson met Noah Yawn at Oak Mountain State Park to collect acorns from the trees documented earlier in the season. The majority of acorns seen previously had already dropped, but the team collected 3 maternal lines.

After pressing vouchers, they travelled to EBSCO Corporate headquarters, where 4 non-fruiting QUBO were documented and acorns and vouchers collected from one individual. This site had a large number of Quercus that display some morphology of QUBO, but appear to be heavily introgressed with the Q. margarettae which are prevalent on the property.

Figure 11: Acorn shape and coverage of cupule varied greatly within populations Friday, October 23 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson met at the Belcher Tract where Jason Blackerby, an EBSCO employee, granted access to a gated road. Acorns were collected from four maternal lines targeting trees with higher abundance recorded from the previous trip. From there, the team drove to Oak Mountain State Park, arriving at the north trailhead parking midday. After placing permits in vehicles, processing vouchers, and storing acorns in the cooler from the Belcher Tract, the team had lunch and organized documentation to assist with post-trip reports. The Red Road and Red-Blue Connector (South) were used to backpack up to the south ridge, where Cook and Thompson made camp in Shackleford Gap by late afternoon. There was just time before dusk to scout “Rock 2,” one of a series of 16 rock outcrops identified from satellite imagery and chosen to maximize distribution across the South face of the ridge

Figure 12: Image of the series of rock outcrops identified from aerial imagery and labeled with coordinate pins Rock1 – Rock 14 for scouting between known occurrences of QUBO within Oak Mountain State Park along the southeast ridge of Double Oak Mountain.

Saturday, October 24 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson waited out a band of thunderstorms in the tents, using the time to plan the search route for the day based on topographic maps. When the rain slackened, the team hiked the blue trail to “Rocks 4-7” before going off-trail to scout the ridge line to “Rock 10.” The rain never let up, but numerous QUBO and suspected hybrids were documented by GPS along the ridgeline, connecting the previously recorded occurrences. If the trees had acorns, the storm knocked them all down. One QUBO individual found on a sandstone rock on a 45 degree slope still had an abundance of acorns. The team collected acorns and a voucher before sloshing back to camp by dusk.

Figure 13: QUBO coming out of a soil pocket on a slope.

Figure 14: Watch your step! Sunday, October 25 Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson broke camp at Shackleford Gap and backpacked down the ridge to the vehicles and drove to the Peavine Falls trailhead, where Noah Yawn and Lynn Purser joined them to scout the south ridge from the other end to where they had left off the day before. The team collected coordinates for a number of QUBO and suspected hybrids in an oak savanna, including one massive individual with hundreds of trunks on the apex of the ridge near an old chimney. Only one tree had enough acorns to collect from, near Peavine Falls. When the crew returned to the vehicles, the acorn collection counts from the whole trip were confirmed and divided up according to the distribution plan.

Figure 15: QUBO groundcover with a pair of vertical leaders in a pine oak hickory savannah on the crest of Double Oak Mountain.

Thursday, November 12 Permitting to collect at Hinds Rock was delayed due to COVID past the time of acorn drop, so Tracy Cook and Patrick Thompson met to record information about the QUBO population to extrapolate size and demographics, rather than to collect plant material. The population at this location is substantial and merits future census and habitat management effort.

Figure 16: QUBO stems persisting in a small soil pocket with mosses, Opuntia humifusa, and a recently deceased Pinus virginiana that had been naturally bonsaied by the limited root space and perhaps decades of root competition with the QUBO.

Summary of Populations

Autauga County This population represents a potential new county record. Even though the plants key out to QUBO, the authors are reluctant to make a definitive ID without genetic analysis of the plants in question. The morphology overlaps with other species/hybrids.

Viability: Poor Threats: genetic swamping by Q. margarettae Verified census number: 7 Verified Census status: Needs Work

Chilton County Efforts to contact the landowners, managers, listing real estate agents, etc. have all been unsuccessful.

Viability: Strong Threats: unknown Verified census number:0 Verified Census status: Uninitiated

Shelby County The sites visited in Shelby County were among the most encouraging of this effort. Three separate occurrences had been observed on a 10-mile stretch of Oak Mountain, with 2 of them already protected within Oak Mountain State Park. After miles of backcountry hiking, crisscrossing up and down slope in many places we were able to establish that these were actually subpopulations within what is now the largest single EO for the species. A large cluster at the south end of the park received a full detailed census.

Viability: Strong Threats: Fire suppression & development of privately owned parcels Verified census number: 285 Verified Census status: Satisfactory

Jefferson County The extent of historical populations in Jefferson County will never be known. These are the most affected by habitat loss and alteration across the range of the species. There is a possibility of continued discovery of remnants of populations.

Viability: Poor Threats: Habitat loss, habitat degradation, fragmentation, invasive species competition Verified census number: 58 Verified Census status: Satisfactory

St. Clair County There are multiple areas in St. Clair County with suitable habitat for QUBO. Arrangements to access private properties have been a challenge, but some promising connections have been made.

Viability: Good Threats: Habitat degradation, changes in land use, lack of protected EOs Verified census number: 54 Verified Census status: Needs work

Blount County This was the most surprising population encountered on this trip, as an outlier in the species range, we did not expect to find more QUBO than we could count and large specimens with heavy fruit set. More time needs to be spent exploring the area for other subpopulations. More QUBO have already been observed at other nearby locations since our visit. This population is unique in that most plants occur on exposed rock on ridgetops, while these are widely distributed through woods, on and between boulders and even right down to the scour zone of the river.

Viability: Strong Threats: Invasive species pressure Verified census number: 64 Verified Census status: Needs Work

Etowah County The population on Forever Wild’s Hinds Road Outcrop tract is large and will yield strong census numbers once funding is secured to conduct the work. The site is unfortunately subject to numerous pressures. Neighboring properties are also known to have subpopulations of QUBO worth investigating, and landowners are amiable to the proposal. Multiple threats need to be dealt with to ensure the longevity of QUBO at the site. Hundreds of labor hours need to be invested in the effort.

Viability: Strong Threats: Encroaching invasive plant species, standing dead timber, and excessive fuel loads Verified census number:25 Verified census status: Needs Work

Figure 17: Pines killed by drought are an issue at the Hinds Road Rock Outcrop Population.

Plant Materials Collected The collection trips completed covered the known range of the species in six Alabama counties (Autauga, Blount, Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair) and resulted in the collection of 667 acorns from 17 maternal lines from 3 populations at 4 locations for a multi-institution distributed ex situ collection. Two scouted locations had zero acorns, another only 18 observed, another had only 10. No collecting was done at these 4 sites per Center for Plant Conservation guidelines aimed at preventing exploitation of the wild populations. 135 acorns from all maternal lines collected were planted in October for the HBG safeguarding collection. The remaining acorns have been shipped to partner institutions to be maintained as indexed material in a meta collection that can provide propagules in case of localized extirpation. Herbarium vouchers were also collected from each individual from which acorns were collected, as well as at new sites documented for the species.

Distribution Partner organizations receiving acorns include Auburn University Davis Arboretum, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum, Birmingham Botanical Garden, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Athens State University, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Alabama Cooperative Extension, USDA Agricultural Research Station, and Longleaf Botanical Gardens.

Shipping occurred via USPS between October 15-28th, 2020. Due to a large distribution network, most institutions received only a subset of the germplasm collected during this project. Each institution was shipped a disbursement of 20-120 acorns (See Table 1).

Table 1: QUBO acorn distribution record by county of collection for the 2020 Tree Gene Conservation Partnership Grant.

Blount St. Clair Shelby Total Acorns Garden 31 16 88 135 Huntsville Botanical Garden 24 24 72 120 Auburn University Davis Arboretum 13 11 51 75 National Arboretum 10 10 31 51 Atlanta Botanical Garden 12 11 46 69 Morton Arboretum 12 11 43 66 Chicago Botanic Garden 0 0 30 30 University of Alabama Huntsville 0 0 30 30 The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 0 0 30 30 Athens State University 0 0 20 20 Birmingham Botanical Gardens 0 0 20 20 Longleaf Botanical Gardens

The vouchers were mailed dried and unmounted, one set sent to the US National Arboretum Herbarium and one set to the Alabama Natural Heritage Section Herbarium (ALNHS, Index Herbarium) in Montgomery, AL.

Project Accomplishments

The Funding for this work allowed for an unprecedented evaluation of this species. The data set is clear and detailed allowing for continuation of the work that can illuminate some of the many remaining questions about the natural history of the species. The work included mapping of multiple potential presumed hybrids, a potential new county record (Autauga), new occurrences in Jefferson, Shelby, and St. Clair counties, and fantastic resolution on what is now the largest documented population of the species on Double Oak Mountain. This population was identified by backcountry hiking that established the connection between two known occurrences on Double Oak Mountain in Shelby county AL. Due to the large number of plants encountered and distance to trek, these trees were mapped, but detailed census data was not collected on the 115 individuals documented along this back country trek.

A new EO for Jefferson County was recognized by arborist and APCA collaborator Zac Napier. When the QUBO team arrived to document it, there was a bonus discovery of ten large Q. georgiana. It is only the second EO for this species in Jefferson county, the third in a cluster that is disjunct, and marks the most western occurrence for the species. In addition to this discovery, several new EOs for the rare Georgia

Aster, Symphyotrichum georgianum, were discovered, mostly by Auburn student and Davis Arboretum employee, Noah Yawn, while the team was in the field.

Detailed census and mapping Taking into account observations on wild populations, it appears that preliminary numbers of this taxon are under reported. A full census of the Belcher Tract in Shelby County and Hinds Rock population in Etowah County would be valuable for enhancing collective understanding of the current state of imperilment for the species.

In situ knowledge of species before this work consisted of 3 elemental occurrences reported by the Alabama Natural Heritage Program’s (ANHP) database, and an estimated world population of 100 individuals reported by NatureServe. The Morton Arboretum’s Gap Analysis database provided the most up to date record with 9 elemental occurrences. After the data from this project was reported to the ANHP, they now have records for 14 EOs and 34 new subpopulations within those EOs (Figure 41 in Appendix II). This is not because the ANHP botanist was unaware of the occurrences, it is because there is only one botanist responsible for reporting data in a state with more than 4,000 species of plants. If he worked 7 days a week for 10 years straight, he could spend 1 day on each species of plants. This points to how valuable grant opportunities like the Tree Gene Partnership are until plant conservation in AL receives the resources it needs to meet the demand presented by the fantastic biodiversity present in this state. An important future direction is creating more positions for field botanists in multiple institutions statewide. As of this writing, QUBO still deserves its S1G1 conservation status based on both the total population and known number of occurrences.

Table 2: Summary of 2020 census of QUBO populations.

County Subpopulation Detail level Population Shelby SW of Peavine full 104 Jefferson Moss Rock full 41 Jefferson BCR Mountain Brook full 2 Jefferson SHC Mountain Brook full 2 Jefferson Irondale full 11 Jefferson Camp Winnataska full 2 St. Clair Lynch Lake Rd full 47 Shelby Peavine to King's chair incomplete 115 St. Clair Stragglers Point incomplete 7 Shelby Belcher incomplete 49 St. Clair Bald Mtn preliminary search 0 Shelby EBSCO NE1 preliminary search 14 Shelby EBSCO NE2 preliminary search 3 Blount The Falls preliminary search 64 Etowah Hinds Road Outcrop preliminary search 25 Etowah North of HRO preliminary search 3 Autauga Turnpike 2 preliminary search 7 St. Clair 231 and either side not counted 0 St. Clair Sax points not counted 0 Chilton White Oak Valley not counted 0 Grand Total as of Fall 2020 496

Table 3: Specimen count summary comparison for ex situ holdings of QUBO with source information in 2019 (left) reported by the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak Gap Analysis database (A. Byrne pers. comm.) and ex situ holdings of QUBO with source information after 2020 collections (right). Follow up reports from partner institutions were a condition of receiving acorns collected for this project, allowing tracking of survival rates and term of success for these efforts.

County Institutions Individuals County Institutions Individuals Shelby 3 23 Shelby 11 464 Jefferson 3 15 Jefferson 3 15 Etowah 8 20 Etowah 8 20 St. Clair 0 0 St. Clair 6 83 Blount 0 0 Blount 6 102 Autuaga 0 0 Autauga 0 0 Chilton 0 0 Chilton 0 0

Exploration Publicity surrounding these efforts was generated through social media, meetings of the Alabama Plant Conservation Alliance, and years of networking and field work leading up to this grant. The result of this continues to have ripple effects as more reports of possible sites continue to come in. Unfortunately, only one the new elemental occurrences yielded acorn collections this season.

Noteworthy Observations

Habitat

QUBO is reported to be endemic to sandstone outcrops of the Ridge and Valley Physiographic region. This effort found plants in a wider variety of sites than it is traditionally associated with. A thriving population was found in the woodlands of the Cumberland Plateau in Blount County. These plants did occur on and between the exposed rocks on the slope, but it was not in the upland situation where we had become accustomed to finding them. These plants grew right down to the scour zone of the Black Warrior River with pillows of sphagnum moss at their bases (Figure 18). According to the landowners, the roots and trunks of these lowest plants would have been submerged multiple times over the years during periods of high water flow. Not something we expected from a species that is adapted to survive the repeated oven dry conditions of an exposed rock outcrop in a subtropical Alabama summer. At the southern extent of our exploration we puzzled over the 3 lobed leaves of oaks on a sandy fall line hill that is definitely on the coastal plain. Moving between rock outcrops on the ridge of oak and Double Oak Mountain we were surprised to find QUBO growing with some frequency in the grasslands of the mountain’s south face and ridge tops (Figure 19). At the Hinds Road Rock Outcrop, diminutive specimens of QUBO have the appearance of natural bonsai (Figure 16).

Figure 18: Riparian QUBO habitat in the Cumberland Plateau Physiographic Region.

Figure 19: Savannah habitat where QUBO was found on Double Oak Mountain

Herbivory

Figure 20: Three species of larval Lepidoptera were documented feeding on QUBO: Anisota sp., Acronicta increta, and Anisota virginiensis.

Fire Tolerance Fire scars indicating a recent low intensity burn did not seem to have any negative effects on QUBO within the area of a natural fire on the south face of Double Oak Mountain. Similarly, specimens inspected within the burn unit of a prescribed fire on the Belcher Tract did not suffer any observable mortality as a result of the burn.

Figure 21: The trunks were charred to a height of 2m on the Pinus palustris (right) and the QUBO (center) indicating significant fire intensity. Healthy new growth on the QUBO suggests they possess a good degree of fire tolerance.

Figure 22: Charred trunk of QUBO and a single new stem emerging from the base of the trunk.

Growth Habits This species is commonly described as a shrub or small tree, sometimes reach a height of 6 meters (20 feet) but usually smaller. During the surveys conducted through this grant, QUBO was observed growing as individual trunks, multi-trunk masses, coppices, clonal colonies, shrubs, and a variety of combinations of these growth habits. Further census work will provide a data set for statistical and spatial analysis that will provide insights into what actually is the most typical growth form for this species. We agreed that the plants seem to rest in these stages. We did not see plants in between these stages to make us think that QUBO behave like typical oaks with the potential to be a 15 m tree, simply growing toward that maximum size on predictable growth curve.

Figure 23: QUBO rhizomatous stems expanding colonially with no dominant leader.

Figure 24: Noah Yawn searching for acorns on a single trunk small QUBO tree.

Figure 25: Lynn Purser and Noah Yawn counting stems of a single trunk small QUBO tree with rhizomatous stems expanding colonially in Oak Mountain State Park.

Figure 26: Medium single leader QUBO tree with rhizomatous stems.

Figure 27: Noah Yawn searching for acorns on medium QUBO trees without rhizomatous stems.

Figure 28: QUBO exhibiting a multi-stem shrub form.

Figure 29: QUBO exhibiting a multi-stem copse habit.

Recognition of 5 Super-specimens Among the hundreds of specimens observed and measured during the course of the team’s work with this species a handful of presumed individuals were documented that had grown to a scale far exceeding previously published limits for the species. All of these specimens have an exceptional amount of biomass, but that does not correlate directly to acorn production, as only one of the 5 seems to have produced an appreciable amount of acorns this year. Growth patterns and uniformity of leaf morphology led the team to deduce that these plants represented single individuals.

Figure 30: The Oak Mountain Monster: This presumed individual at Oak Mountain State Park has 52 trunks with an average dbh 12.7 cm and a fairly uniform height of 10 meters. It also has 179 stems that exist at the ground level with very little intermediate growth and extended 15 m along the ridge with a width of 10m.

Figure 31: Oak Mountainous Maximus: An amazing plant so large our entire team sat down to lunch under it’s branches and decided measuring it would require and entire day. The plant extended for about 35 meters along the ridge in a protracted oval shape about 15 m wide through much of its core. The number of stems and trunks could reach over one thousand.

Figure 33: The Blount County Beast: This EO is home to several vigorous mature specimens. This exceptional plant had found a location between and on top of a rock formation where it had attained a height and width of about 10 meters. The single trunk specimen had a dbh of 25cm. There were 30 smaller stems coming from the duff around the trunk, but none seemed to be attempting to grow into a tree form. Several hundred acorn caps were found under it, but it had apparently dropped many acorns early in the season and only 5 were collected.

Figure 34: Etowah Shelf Elf: An exceptional specimen 10 m in height. This one had 3 trunks with a maximum dbh of 24 cm. The presence of 64 surrounding stems are inconsequential compared to the mass of the 3 main trunks, and there was no intermediate growth or acorn production.

Presumed Hybrids Identified and Mapped

Quercus boyntonii x margarettae Quercus boyntonii x stellata Quercus boyntonii x alba Quercus boyntonii x montanta

Figure 35: Quercus boyntonii co-occurring with Q. margarettae, and a presumed hybrid with intermediate leaf morphology.

Figure 36: Presumed Quercus boyntonii x alba.

Figure 37: Presumed Quercus boyntonii x montanta.

Figure 38: Presumed Quercus boyntonii x stellata.

Germplasm collection During this project, 667 acorns from 17 maternal lines from 3 populations at 4 locations were collected across three counties. Three additional counties were scouted and documented with herbarium vouchers. Germination rate of acorns and success rate from seed to two-year seedling will be recorded for the acorns planted at HBG and the institutions that received acorns have been asked to track the same information. Though some plants will likely fail between germination and landscape establishment, there is a good probability of many plants to survive, increasing representation of well documented, wild collected material of this taxon in cultivation. Future collecting activities will likely focus on targeted collecting from populations which were either missed during this project, or fail to

37 produce a suitable amount of replicates in production. Additional research in both systematics and population genetics would be helpful to assist with more guided collecting and conservation efforts. Follow up work to document horticultural protocols and survivorship among participating institutions should inform future efforts to maximize success of efforts to conserve the species in ex situ collections.

Limitations and Future Directions

The good news for QUBO is that there are protected populations on state lands at the Northern and southern end of the species verified range; Forever Wild’s Hinds Road Outcrop Tract, and Oak Mountain State Park respectively. The reality for the core of the species range is that it has become severely fragmented by the continued expansion of the Birmingham metropolitan area. Increasing awareness of this AL endemic species could continue to yield new occurrences in this area.

Genetics work is going to be required to establish the validity of possible extensions of the verified range of the species. Potential expansion includes the new Autuaga county record vouchered on this trip, as well as occurrences worth investigating in Cherokee and Dekalb counties. Analysis of genetic markers will also be needed to warrant the recognition of presumed hybrids seen and mapped during this project. Genetic analysis of copse form plants would be necessary to determine the actual number of plants as well because current census methods do not account for the possibility that soil pockets could be occupied by either one multi-stemmed individual or multiple individuals sprouting from the limited soil available in their habitat. Efforts to formally describe the presumed hybrids documented here would also require genetic analysis.

Completion of the census work would require detailed surveys of two relatively large populations: Blount County and Hinds Road Outcrop. We have observed, and been notified of, sites surrounding these populations that would add to the count for the species. Once data has been collected on these specimens, statistical analysis will aid in determining what the true growth parameters are for the species, and the frequency of occurrence for the numerous growth forms observed and documented by this study.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Matt Lobdell, Amy Byrne, and Emily Beckman for their support during the planning and initiation of this project. Appreciation goes out to Noah Yawn, Zac Napier, Frank Thompson, and Lynn Purser for volunteering on scouting and collection trips. Thanks again to Amy Byrne and to Katie Lawson for helping cross reference databases and generate maps for this report. Additional support appreciated from Scott Pardue, Dixon Brooke, Lauren Muncher, Michelle Reynolds, Pam and Ray Thompson, Colin Conner, Marc Harris, Mari Carmen, Alden Brindle, Brian Keener, Wayne Barger, and Al Schotz. Thanks as well to EBSCO, Oak Mountain State Park, Forever Wild, The City of Hoover, Camp Winnataska, The Alabama Natural Heritage Program, AL Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and numerous private property owners and managers who permitted access to properties for field work, and to APGA and USFS for creating the opportunity to work on this project.

Appendix I: List of Participants and Contact Information

Tracy Cook, Director of Plant Conservation and Curation, Huntsville Botanical Garden [email protected] 256-830-4447 ext. 236 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue Huntsville, AL 35805

Patrick Thompson, Curator, Davis Arboretum of Auburn University Coordinator, Alabama Plant Conservation Alliance [email protected] 334-332-0283 101 Rouse Life Sciences Building Auburn University AL, 36849-5407

Matt Lobdell, Curator and Head of Collections, The Morton Arboretum [email protected] 630-719-2435 4100 Illinois Route 53 Lisle, Illinois 60532

Phillip Douglas, Director of Plant Collections, Chicago Botanic Garden [email protected] 847-835-8390 1000 Lake Cook Road Glencoe, IL 60022

John Evans, Conservation Horticulture Coordinator, Atlanta Botanical Garden [email protected] 404-876-5859 1345 Piedmont Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30309

John Manion, Kaul Wildflower Garden Curator, Birmingham Botanical Garden [email protected] 205-414-3950 ext. 116 2612 Lane Park Rd. Mountain Brook, AL 35223

Paul Wolf, Biology Department Chair, The University of Alabama in Huntsville 256-824-6043 301 Sparkman Drive Shelby Center for Science and Technology SST 369 Huntsville, AL 35899

Shannon Pittman, Assistant Professor of Biology, Athens State University [email protected] 256-233-6519 Waters Hall, S 303 C 300 N. Beaty Street Athens, Alabama 35611

Charles Gardner, Arborist, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation [email protected] 804-832-7455 401 W Duke of Gloucester St Williamsburg, VA 23185

Hayes Jackson, Alabama Cooperative Extension, Longleaf Botanical Gardens [email protected] 1702 Noble St. STE 108 Anniston, AL 36201

Kevin Conrad, Curator, Woody Landscape Plant Germplasm Repository, US National Arboretum [email protected] 10300 Baltimore Ave, BLDG 010A RM 233 Beltsville, MD 20705

Appendix II: Map of Survey Sites

New Elemental Occurrences

Figure 39: New elemental occurrences from the Alabama Natural Heritage Program database as a result of this project.