AMERICAN MUSEUM Novitates PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY CENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10024 Number 2920, pp. 1-14, figs. 1, 2, tables 1, 2 June 30, 1988 Checklist of the Vascular Flora of St. Catherines Island, Georgia NANCY C. COILE1 AND SAMUEL B. JONES, JR.2 ABSTRACT From 1983 to 1986, a survey was made of vas- cultivation of Sea Island cotton by the European cular plants on St. Catherines Island (2916 ha) in settlers and the 20th century use of the island for Liberty County along the Georgia coast. A total cattle production. When these factors are com- of 373 species was collected and identified. The bined with the presence of feral pigs and over- floristic diversity of St. Catherines Island is low population of deer, the low diversity is under- compared with that of several similar barrier is- standable. lands. This may be due in part to the extensive INTRODUCTION A reasonably complete and documented list of the vascular plants of St. Catherines NATURAL HISTORY Island was needed to support various scien- The natural history ofSt. Catherines Island tific programs of the St. Catherines Island has been discussed by Thomas et al. (1978) Foundation and other activities. Therefore, and is not repeated in detail here. Physio- we conducted a floristic survey from 1983 to graphically and culturally, St. Catherines is the end of 1986, collecting at various times typical of barrier islands of Georgia. Devel- throughout several growing seasons. At the oped along a low-energy coastline, St. Cath- time ofeach visit, we examined selected hab- erines is composed ofdistinct Pleistocene and itats for vascular plant species in addition to Holocene coastal deposits dating back 40,000 collecting the general flora. years and 5000 years before the present time, I Curator of the Herbarium, Department of Botany, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. 2 Professor of Botany, Department of Botany, University of Georgia. Copyright © American Museum of Natural History 1988 ISSN 0003-0082 / Price $2.00 2 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 2920 TABLE 1 for the production of long-staple Sea Island Sequence of Events Impacting St. Catherines cotton (1800-1860) and more recently (1945- Island 1975) for cattle production were devastating to the native flora. According to Mr. Royce 2200 B.C.-1 150 A.D. American Indian preagriculture ca. were 1150-1550 A.D. Mixture of agriculture & hunt- Hayes (personal commun.), 600 cattle ing-gathering on the island in 1975 (now mostly removed). 1550-1686 Spanish Mission Period About 1300 swine were trapped and sold, 1700s British influence reducing the number to ca. 150 in 1976, at 1770-1830 Timber & farming which time removal by shooting began. Since 1800-1860 Sea Island cotton 1976, around 1000 swine have been shot and 1864-1867 Tunis Campbell & Freedmen killed, and the remaining population is esti- 1870-1929 Sea Island cotton mated to be about 300 to 400 swine. At the 1929 Purchased by New York inves- time this study began, the deer population tors was exceedingly large as evidenced by the 1937 Regained by Savannah family 1940 Timber sales distinct browse line which was as high as the 1942-1945 Army troops deer could reach. The grazing herbivores (deer 1943 Purchased by Noble family and cattle) had simply been eating almost 1945-1975 Cattle ranching every available digestible plant. This impres- 1975- St. Catherines Foundation sion was strengthened when vascular species richness on St. Catherines was compared with data from several other southeastern United States barrier islands (see table 2 and fig. 1). respectively. As is usual for barrier islands, In addition to the grazing problem, swine dig extensive salt marshes occur between the is- up plants with their snouts (rooting), which land and the mainland. Remarkably, an results in a detrimental effect. ocean-side salt marsh has formed at the cen- ter of the island. FLORA American Indians arrived by ca. 2200 B.C. and evidence ofa mixed agriculture-hunting/ Sites from the north end of the island to gathering culture extends to 1150 A.D. Eu- the south end, including recently disturbed ropean settlement occurred about 500 years areas around the headquarters and the animal ago, and disturbed the island flora with lum- enclosures, were sampled (fig. 2). Some ofthe bering, extensive agriculture, grazing, feral sites chosen for intensive collecting are de- animals, and the elimination ofnatural pred- scribed below. North Pasture, a grass savanna ators-activities that greatly influenced the with scattered, mature longleafpines and oc- present-day flora. The important events are casional wet depressions, has exotic grasses summarized in table 1 and discussed in detail in addition to the native flora. Also on the in Thomas et al. (1978). The use ofthe island northern part of the island are Indian shell TABLE 2 Area and Number of Species on Selected Islands ASSA, StCA, Ga. SAPE, Ga. SHIP, Miss. WALL, Va. Va./Md. SEAI, Ga. Pteridophytes 6 11 3 9 10 16 Gymnosperms 6 6 2 3 5 9 Monocots 157 201 98 134 173 275 Dicots 204 386 209 234 374 512 Total 373 604 312 380 562 812 Area (hectares) 2916 4414 400 ca. 2000 8812 ca. 30, 901 StCA-St. Catherines Island; SAPE-Sapelo Island (Duncan, 1982); SHIP-Ship Island (Miller and Jones, 1967); WALL-Wallop Island (Klotz, 1986); ASSA-Assateague Island (Hill, 1986); and SEAI-Sea Islands (Sharpe, MS). 1988 COILE AND JONES: ST. CATHERINES ISLAND FLORA 3 -900 SEAI 800 700 Uf) w 600 SAPE LU C/) -500 ASSA -400 WALL StCA -300 SHIP 400 2000 5000 30000 AREA (Hectares) Fig. 1. Comparison ofAssateague Island, Va./Md. (ASSA), St. Catherines Island, Ga. (StCA), Sapelo Island, Ga. (SAPE), Sea Islands of Georgia (SEAI), Ship Island, Miss. (SHIP), and Wallop Island, Va. (WALL) by number of vascular plant species and by area of the sites. middens where oyster shells have decom- to provide an excellent site for collecting. The posed into soil which supports an interesting largest stand ofcabbage palmettos for a Geor- vegetation. North Beach, an eroding beach gia barrier island is in the southern part of with low dunes and a narrow foredune area, the island. The maritime live oak forest near is backed by species-rich freshwater sloughs. Beach Pond is dissected by the high salt-marsh Seaside Marsh is a saltwater marsh on the and freshwater sloughs and provides other ocean side of the island, an unusual occur- habitats which were sampled. rence since most barrier islands have salt The paucity of vascular flora becomes marshes on the mainland sides. This tidal salt striking (fig. 1) when St. Catherines (2916 ha marsh is dominated by cordgrass and black and 373 species of vascular plants) is com- rush and contains salt pans with specialized pared with Ship Island, Mississippi (400 ha vegetation. Two small hammocks in Seaside and 312 species). This may be an unsuitable Marsh were also sampled. Facing Seaside comparison since Ship Island does not have Marsh are Pleistocene bluffs. On the Pleis- the history of cotton production that the Sea tocene backbone of the island are dry oak- Islands ofGeorgia have. Sapelo Island, Geor- hickory ridges, with intervening areas of gia, is one-third larger than St. Catherines successional pine stands and successional and has ca. 200 more species of plants. Al- hardwood-palmetto communities. though much ofSapelo Island was under cul- Several ponds (including Gator Pond, tivation for Sea Island cotton, it did not have Greenseed Pond, Wammassee Pond, Flag intensive cattle ranching or a large population Pond, and Beach Pond) and the freshwater of feral swine. In addition, the Georgia De- sloughs which surround Yankee Bridge Road partment of Natural Resources allows trap- were sampled for aquatics. At the tabby ruins ping and hunting of deer on Sapelo for pop- of South End, an open pasture, high salt ulation control. marsh, and hardwood-palmetto woods abut A complete set of collected herbarium 4 AMERICAN MUSEUM NOVITATES NO. 2920 specimens has been deposited in the St. Cath- erines Island Foundation herbarium on the island and is available to facilitate on-site identification. Another set has been depos- ited in the University of Georgia Herbarium (GA). Replicate specimens have been dis- tributed to other herbaria as part of the GA exchange program. In the Plant List, the no- menclature and taxonomy follow primarily that of Radford et al. (1968), Godfrey and Wooten (1979, 198 1), USDA list (1982), and Coile and Jones (1985). Since Radford et al. provided the most complete manual for the area, names in their manual will be given in brackets ifthey differ from those in this plant list. A few omissions are bound to occur in any catalog of the flora of a particular area. It is likely that additional species may nat- urally colonize the island or become estab- lished because of the transport of materials such as seeds or hay. Also, deletions may occur for various reasons. We hope the checklist will be useful to persons utilizing the facilities ofthe Foundation and will serve as a stimulus for future botanical research. VEGETATION: COLONIAL PERIOD AND PRESENT DAY3 At the time of European settlement, the island probably consisted of(1) coastal strand vegetation facing the Atlantic Ocean, (2) successional dune vegetation on Holocene sediments, (3) tidal salt marsh on recently submerged sediments, (4) maritime forest dominated by live oak (Quercus virginiana) on Pleistocene formations, (5) small stands of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and slash pine (P. elliottii) about old clearings by Amer- ican Indians and natural openings, (6) pond pine forests (P. serotina) on poorly drained Pleistocene substrates, (7) interdunal fresh- water marshes on Holocene formations, and (8) hickory (Carya glabra)-dominated com- munities on sandy ridges of the Pleistocene part of the island.