Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 8-2015 A NEW, LOW-ELEVATION APPALACHIAN SAXIFRAGE (HYDATICA NECKER EX. GRAY 1821) IN SOUTH CAROLINA LAARY CUSHMAN Clemson University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Recommended Citation CUSHMAN, LAARY, "A NEW, LOW-ELEVATION APPALACHIAN SAXIFRAGE (HYDATICA NECKER EX. GRAY 1821) IN SOUTH CAROLINA" (2015). All Theses. 2190. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/2190 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 NEW, LOW-ELEVATION APPALACHIAN SAXIFRAGE (HYDATICA NECKER EX. GRAY 1821) IN SOUTH CAROLINA 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 Laary Jackson Cushman August, 2015 Accepted by: Patrick D. McMillan, Committee Chair Elena Mikhailova Peter Adler Harry E. Shealy, Jr. ABSTRACT In 2002 a unique population of Hydatica Necker ex Gray 1821 (Appalachian Saxifrage) was discovered by Patrick McMillan in the upper Piedmont of Pickens County, SC, growing on a low-elevation granite dome within the Nature Conservancy’s Nine Times nature preserve. The plants appeared to be similar to the widespread Hydatica petiolaris (Raf.) Small populations of the Blue Ridge Escarpment (BRE). However, the Pickens County population displays an annual life form and flowers during the late winter and early spring, in contrast to the perennial life forms and late spring through early fall flowerings of the BRE population.