FLORISTIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE OZARK PLATEAU NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AND THE GENUS QUERCUS IN OKLAHOMA By WILL F. LOWRY III Bachelor of Science in Botany Oklahoma State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 2006 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE May 2010 FLORISTIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE OZARK PLATEAU NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AND THE GENUS QUERCUS IN OKLAHOMA Dissertation Approved: Dr. Ronald J. Tyrl Dissertation Adviser Dr. Terrence G. Bidwell Dr. R. Dwayne Elmore Dr. A. Gordon Emslie Dean of the Graduate College ii PREFACE This thesis comprises two chapters, each of which encompasses one aspect of my master’s research conducted between 2006 and the present. Written in the format of papers appearing in the Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science, Chapter I describes the results of a floristic survey of three tracts of the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge located in the Boston Mountains ecoregion in Adair County, Oklahoma. Written in more or less traditional thesis format, Chapter II offers a taxonomic treatment of the genus Quercus in Oklahoma which is to be incorporated in the forthcoming Flora of Oklahoma. The taxonomic keys for the sections and species of the genus have already been inserted in Keys and Descriptions of the Vascular Plants of Oklahoma. Partial financial support for my floristic work on the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I offer special thanks to refuge manager Steve Hensley for providing financial support and assisting me in conducting my research. I also offer special thanks to Ronald J. Tyrl for serving as my major professor, contributing to my training as a taxonomist, and offering encouragement throughout my program. Thanks are due several individuals for their contributions: Patricia Folley for confirming and annotating my collections of specimens in the Cyperaceae; Michael Powell for examining my specimens of Quercus from Cimarron County, allowing me access to the Herbarium at the Sul Ross State University, and giving me a map with hand written directions for finding the species of Quercus in Big Bend National Park and the Guadalupe Mountains; Clayton Russell for treating me like family during my many collecting trips to the Gittin Down Mountain Tract; and Claude Liver for his hospitality and interesting stories. I offer additional iii thanks to Brent Cooper, Dan Moore, Mary Gard, Audra Liggenstoffer, and Trey Cowles for assisting me with collecting. Finally, I thank Terry G. Bidwell and R. Dwayne Elmore for serving on my graduate advisory committee, helping me formulate my research program, and reading this thesis. I dedicate my treatment of Quercus to John M. Tucker, one of the first individuals to carefully examine variation within the genus. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. A CHECKLIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS ENCOUNTERED IN OF THE GITTIN DOWN MOUNTAIN, LIVER, AND VARMINT TRACTS OF THE OZARK PLATEAU NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE .... 1 Abstract ..................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 2 Ecogeography of the OPNWR Region in Adair County ............................. 3 Geology and Soils ............................................................................ 3 Climate ............................................................................................. 5 Vegetation ........................................................................................ 5 Characteristics of the Three Tracts ............................................................ 6 Gittin Down Mountain Tract .............................................................. 6 Liver Tract ........................................................................................ 7 Varmint Tract .................................................................................... 7 Method of Survey ....................................................................................... 8 Results and Discussion .............................................................................. 9 Flora of the Three Tracts .................................................................. 9 Observations of Vegetation and Species ........................................ 14 Literature Cited ........................................................................................ 16 Appendix 1. .............................................................................................. 22 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................... 37 II. A TAXONOMIC TREATMENT OF THE GENUS QUERCUS IN OKLAHOMA Introduction .............................................................................................. 39 Taxonomy and Biology of the Fagaceae .................................................. 41 Biology and Taxonomy of Quercus ......................................................... 48 Biology ............................................................................................ 48 Economic Significance ................................................................... 48 Wildlife Significance ........................................................................ 50 Taxonomy ....................................................................................... 53 Reproductive Characters and Taxonomy ....................................... 55 Trichomes and Taxonomy .............................................................. 60 Recognition of Sections in Oklahoma ............................................. 64 Hybridization in Quercus ................................................................ 66 Methodology: Preparation of the Treatment ............................................. 69 Results and Discussion: Floristic Treatment of Quercus .......................... 73 Literature Cited ...................................................................................... 229 v LIST OF TABLES AND APPENDICES IN CHAPTER I Table Page 1 Taxa encountered in the Gittin Down Mountain, Liver, and Varmint Tracts of the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge............ 10 2 Thirty-two introduced species encountered in the Gittin Down Mountain, Liver, and Varmint Tracts of the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge, Adair County, Oklahoma. ........................................ 11 3 Taxa designated rare by the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory (2006, 2009) discovered in the Gittin Down Mountain, Liver, and Varmint tracts of the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge. .............................................................................................. 13 Appendix 1 Vascular plant taxa of the Gittin Down Mountain, Liver, and Varmint Tracts of the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge, Adair County, Oklahoma.. .................................................................. 22 2 Eighty-two species collected in the Gittin Down Mountain, Liver, and Varmint Tracts of the Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge which represent new county records for Adair County. ..................... 37 LIST OF TABLES IN CHAPTER II 1 Genera, number of species, and geographical distribution of the Fagaceae (Nixon and Crepet, 1989; Nixon, 1997; Deng et al., 2006). ............................................................................ 43 2 Sections of the genus Quercus in North America (Irgens-Moller, 1955; Nixon, 1993a, 1997).. ............................................................... 53 3 Species and infraspecific taxa of Quercus occurring in Oklahoma based on a literature survey and an examination of herbarium specimens. ....................................................................... 70 4 Sixty-five morphological characters examined and scored in order to generate taxon descriptions in Quercus . .............................. 72 5 States and numbers of localities visited, and growing seasons of visits in this study of Quercus . ........................................................... 73 vi LIST OF FIGURES IN CHAPTER II Figure Page 1 Pistillate inflorescences of Quercus velutina , lines indicating flanges excurrent from each peduncle subtending individual flowers. Drawing by Will Lowry. .......................................................... 56 2 Upper: Pistillate flowers of Quercus margaretta (sect. Quercus ) above subtended by pubescent stipule (A). Lower: Pistillate flowers of Quercus velutina (sect. Lobatae ) subtended by glabrous flange (B). Drawing by Will Lowry.. ...................................... 57 3 Hair types encountered in species of Quercus. A: side view of sessile hairs with appressed to ascending or erect rays. B: paradermal view of hairs in A. C: side view of sessile and inconspicuously stalked hairs with inconspicuously ascending and/or descending rays. D: side view of sessile hairs with appressed rays. E: parademal view of hairs in C and D. F: side view of conspicuously stalked hairs with ascending to erect rays. G: side view of inconspicuously stalked hairs with ascending to erect rays. H: paradermal view of hairs in F and G. I: side view of erect hairs. Drawing by Will Lowry. ........................ 63 4 Leaf surface of Quercus stellata with uniserrate and bulbous hairs associated with stellate hair. A: vein. B:uniserrate hair. C: bulbous hair. Drawing by Will Lowry.