Vascular Plant Flora of the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center, Alabama Curtis J. Hansen*y, Dale C. Pancakez and Leslie R. Goertzeny y Department of Biological Sciences and Auburn University Museum of Natural History, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, U.S.A. z School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, Auburn University and Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center, Andalusia, AL 36420, U.S.A. * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract voucher and document the rich vascular plant diversity occurring on the Center, providing a data resource and A survey of the vascular plant flora was conducted at the stimulus for future research. Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in south-central Alabama. Over 2000 vascular plant specimens were col- Geology and Geography lected from the 2144 ha site comprising 152 families, 498 genera and 1015 species. This represented a density of 47 The 2144 ha site in south-central Alabama straddles the 2 species/km and accounted for 25% of all known vascu- Covington and Escambia County line with Conecuh lar plant species from the state of Alabama, highlighting County bordering the northwest corner of the property. the unusually rich biodiversity of this site. The most The Center is bounded by the Conecuh River to the north, diverse plant families in this flora were Asteraceae (132 the Conecuh National Forest to the south and by private spp.), Poaceae (108), Fabaceae (74), Cyperaceae (69), and or leased holdings to the east and west (Fig. 1). Eleva- Lamiaceae (24). The most diverse genera in the survey tion ranges from 30 m at the Conecuh River to 91m near included Carex (23 spp.), Quercus (20), Juncus (15), Cy- the central part of the property (31:163 947◦, −86:7028◦).