A Survey of the Vascular Flora of Beaufort County, South Carolina Daniel Payne Clemson University, [email protected]
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 1-2010 A Survey of the Vascular Flora of Beaufort County, South Carolina Daniel Payne Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the Botany Commons Recommended Citation Payne, Daniel, "A Survey of the Vascular Flora of Beaufort County, South Carolina" (2010). All Theses. 924. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/924 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SURVEY OF THE VASCULAR FLORA OF BEAUFORT COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: RELICTS AND REMNANTS A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Plant and Environmental Sciences by Daniel C. Payne August 2010 Accepted by: Robert E. Ballard, Committee Chair Patrick D. McMillan David W. Bradshaw Richard D. Porcher ABSTRACT Beaufort County has historically been one of the most poorly botanized counties in the state. Geographically, it lies farther from the major research institutions than most other counties and has therefore received little attention from modern botanists. Major waterways, numerous private communities and an oppressive summer climate further complicate botanical research. Beaufort has one of the fastest growing human populations in the state. Natural areas are rapidly being converted into residential and commercial developments. An understanding of the county's flora is necessary to focus conservation efforts to preserve critical habitat and develop management plans for maintaining biodiversity. This project was conducted to help provide that data. Between 2003 and 2010, over 3000 voucher collections were made from various plant communities throughout the county. Previous collections housed at the Clemson and Citadel herbaria were also examined. Special emphasis was placed on documenting populations of rare plants, invasive plants and new state occurrences. In total 1597 native and naturalized taxa were documented. Prior to this study, 938 taxa were reported for the county. This study has added an additional 659. More than 200 of these were not previously reported for South Carolina in the most recent atlas. Some represent range extensions of native species which should be considered for inclusion to South Carolina Rare List. Information is provided about the new state records and the more significant county records. Many of the new records consist of species which are exotic and may warrant special attention due to the threat they may pose to natural ecosystems and agriculture. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my lord and savior, Jesus Christ who redeemed me from my sins and gave me the hope of eternal life. During a time of great personal difficulty, he inspired me with the dream to go back to school. He provided me with mentors at Clemson who had the knowledge and patience to guide me through this educational journey. He provided me the means to achieve this dream without incurring debt. He gave me the patience to collect and process the data and the endurance to complete this project. Dearest to me, he brought my daughter, Haley Elise Payne, back into my life. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed to this project. This space only allows me to mention a few. First, among these are my graduate advisor and committee members; Dr. Robert Ballard, Dr. Patrick McMillan and Dr. David Bradshaw and Dr. Richard Porcher. Dr. McMillan deserves special notice for his outsized role. Dixie Damrel, the current museum curator reexamined numerous specimens. The Biological Science Department staff was extremely helpful, particularly Barbara Piekutowski, Sally Brock and Jillian Danson. This project was financed through teaching assistantships, a Stackhouse fellowship and through my business. I especially thank my clients and assistants for accommodating the irregularities in my schedule during these years. Bill Hodgins and John Baglione provided instruction and assistance with computer hardware and software while working in Beaufort. Katherine Dobrenen, Carmen Bradley and Kathy Snizaski provided database assistance. Dr. Richard Porcher, Ben Turner, Dr. Alfred P. "Hap" Wheeler loaned a motorboat, a kayak, and a pick-up truck respectively. Abel Lopez-Fernandez and Vianel Mendez-Sanchez donated their car. Numerous individuals helped me collect specimens. Some of them for exploration. José Luis López-Ramírez has been a friend closer than a brother throughout this project. Freddy Figueroa-Roblero and Cristían López- Fernandez have been like sons to me. Finally, I thank my father Jerry Allen Payne, my mother Ruth Price Payne and my stepmother Rose Green Payne who cultivated in me a love of nature and of education. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 II. LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY ................................................................ 2 III. GEOLOGY AND SOILS .............................................................................. 4 IV. CLIMATE ...................................................................................................... 8 V. HISTORICAL IMPACTS ........................................................................... 10 VI. METHODS .................................................................................................. 21 VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................................................................. 25 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 38 A: Annotated checklist of the vascular flora of Beaufort County .................... 39 B: Noteworthy collections from Beaufort County: rare plant occurrences and a selection of newly reported taxa reports ...................... 126 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 241 v LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1.1 Summary of collection results by higher level taxa and nativity ................................................................................................... 26 2.1 Most specious families in Beaufort County ................................................. 27 3.1 Rare plant populations reported from Beaufort County, South Carolina ....................................................................................... 32 vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION In 1986, I was studying Joseph Stalin in a Russian History class at the University of Georgia. Hearing the countless horrors that his man instigated on his people greatly depressed me. A friend recommended that I change my major to horticulture. Instead of meditating on the evil of the past I could not change, I could work with plants and make the world a better place. I didn't take much convincing. In 1991, I moved to Beaufort County, South Carolina. I started a gardening and nursery business there in 1993 which focused on coexisting with nature. I was amazed by the botanical richness of my new home. It far surpassed the abandoned agricultural lands with which I was so familiar. Rare plants were everywhere. I was dismayed to see rapid construction overtake them and I could not comprehend that hardly anyone seemed to care. When I contacted "experts" about rare plant sites, I was told that there was nothing worth saving in Beaufort County or Beaufort County is already too far gone to save. My personal goal with this thesis is to demonstrate that there is still a lot left in Beaufort County worth saving. The purpose of this project is to document the diversity of the native and naturalized flora of Beaufort County. Special emphasis has been placed on species that are rare in the state and those are newly reported for the county. The main factors affecting the flora are discussed. These include the geographical location, geology, climate, and historical impacts. Data collection methods are explained. Results are summarized and discussed. Two reports are included as appendices, an annotated checklist of the cited flora, and a selection of noteworthy collections of rare and newly reported taxa. CHAPTER TWO LOCATION AND GEOGRAPHY Beaufort County lies near the southernmost corner of South Carolina. It borders Jasper County on the west and southwest. It is bordered on the northwest by Hampton County, on the east by Colleton County and on the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean. There are 1650 square kilometers of land, 832 square kilometers of non-forested wetland, and 873 square kilometers of bay or estuary in the county (Beaufort County Library 2007). It encompasses 64 large to moderate-sized islands,