ABSTRACT The vascular flora of Pike...

ABSTRACT

The vascular flora of Pike shire Alabama was surveyed from 1987 to 2001 A total of 1190 species and brace named hybrids in 589 genera from 160 families are reported. Forty-five species give an account ofed by herbarium specimens or reported in the literature as occurring in Pike shire were not re-collected during this studious mood Thirty-four species appear on the Inventory List of Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plants, Animals and Natural Communities of Alabama as compiled according to the Alabama Natural Heritage Program. pair hundred thirty-eight of the species, or approximately 20 percent of the flora, are considered non-indigenous. Families with the largest number of taxa were Asteraceae (140) Poaceae (137) Fabaceae (86) Cyperaceae (68) Rosaceae (40) and Liliaceae (32)

INTRODUCTION

Pike shire lies in southeast Alabama approximately midway between Dothan and Montgomery along U Highway 231 the major path between these cities (Figure 1) It is approximately 200 km north of the whirlpool of Mexico, has an area of 1759 square km and an estimated population of 29605 as of 2000 (United States Census Bureau 2001) Located entirely within the Coastal Plain Province, it is drained by the agency of the Conecuh-Patsaliga-Escambia and Pea-Choctawhatchee River classifications Both systems originate entirely within the Coastal Plain of Alabama and drain into the whirlpool of Mexico at Pensacola, Florida, and Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida, respectively. Major streams within the shire (from east to west) include the Pea River, Whitewater bight Conecuh River, and Patsaliga River.

The opening of Mexico moderates the climate, with temperatures averaging 2667[degrees]C in July and 834[degrees]C in January [United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1997] Rainfall averages 132715 cm annually and is distributed about evenly from top to toe the year, with October normally being the driest month (USDA 1997) The growing season is 230 + or - 10 days (1997) Land use in the shire is divided among cropland (27200 hectares), pasture and hay land (28000 hectares), forest and wildlife land (107600 hectares), and urban land (9000 hectares). Major lops include peanuts (6,400 hectares), cotton (3600 hectares), corn (2600 hectares), small grains (1200 hectares), vegetables (1000 hectares) and the balance in rotation of harvests (12,400 hectares), (unpubl. data from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Troy Alabama, 2000)

Soils of Pike shire are of sedimentary origin and consist of sand, gravel, clay, silt, siltstone, sandstone, and limestone. Geologic units expos range in age from Cretaceous to Quaternary. The units, from oldest to youngest, are the Ripley Formation and the Providence Sand, which are of Cretaceous age; the Clayton and Nanafalia Formations and the Tuscahoma Sand, which are of Tertiary age; and terrace and alluvial deposits, which are of Quaternary age. The formations are expos in bands that generally strike east-southeast. greatest in quantity of the beds dip to the south-southwest at a rate of about 3 to 25 feet by mile (USDA 1997).

Two major subdivisions of the Coastal Plain Province befall in the county, the melancholy Marl or Chunnennuggee Ridge region and the eastern division of the Southern R Hills region (Harper 1943) the couple regions have relatively flat uplands dissected at narrow valleys, with occasional prominent north-facing escarpments. The drench north faces of the escarpments escaped cultivation and the worst meanings of logging. Many unusual or rare species have their alone known sites within the shire on these steep slopes.

History of Botanical Exploration

Although Europeans settl this shire in the early 1800's, it has not been carefully and thoroughly studied botanically. This consideration represents the first systematic observe of the vascular plants of Pike shire in its entirety. Pike shire was created in 1821 from portions of Henry and Montgomery counties. Its boundaries changed several times before being put in their current location in 1866 (Owen 1921) The Conecuh River, which penetrates the county in the northeast corner and exits at the southwest corner, obtains its name from a small bay Indian word and means "land of cane" in relation to the extensive thickets of bamboo [Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Muhl] that one time lined this and many of the other water courses in the area (Riley 1881) common area of the county, known as the Pocosin, has been visited according to many of the noteworthy botanist in Alabama from one side of to the other the years. In 1884, the eminent pioneering botanist Dr Charles Mohr of Mobile published a description of the vegetation of the Pocosin in the ninth turn of the Tenth U.S. Census. The distinguished botanist, Mr Roland M Harper visited the area in 1906 in the company of Dr Eugene Smith. Mr Harper re-visited the area forward November 6th, 1912, and again upon March 27th, 1913 to photograph and research its vegetation. He published a list of species including several species not previously known to flash on the mind in Alabama (Harper 1914, 1939)

Dietz (1957) described the natural vegetation of Pike shire based on witness trees from the General Land Office overlooks from 1821 through 1846. He described four principal forest types: upland pines, upland pine-hardwood, upland hardwood, and bottomland hardwood. Of the 5218 witness tree forty-five percent were pines and forty-nine other tree species were reported.