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Dwarf Witch-alder

Fothergilla gardenii




Dwarf Witch-alder
 Fothergilla gardenii



State Heritage Status Rankings

Alabama (S?), Florida (S1), Georgia (S2), Mississippi (S?), North Carolina (S3), South Carolina (S?)



 
Description:

Dwarf witch-alder is a slender, colonial shrub originating from underground runners and growing to an approximate height of 1 meter. The leaves, which arise from a short petiole, are 2-ranked, pinnately veined with the principal lateral veins usually 3 to 5 on each side. The leaf veins are angled and ascend parallel to each other, extending to the margin of the leaf. The leaves are sometimes as long as broad, but mostly obovate and less frequently broadly elliptic. Leaves are 2 to 6 cm in length and 1.5 to 3 cm in width, truncate, rounded, or basally cuneate. The apices are obtuce, rounded, or nearly truncate. Leaf margins are usually crenate near the ends, but sometimes entire. Stipules are approximately 2 mm in length, ovate - oblong and densely stellate pubescent. Dense stellate pubescence covers the buds, young twigs, petioles, and both surfaces of the leaves (Patrick et. al. 1995).

Habitat:

Dwarf witch-alder inhabits shrub bogs, bays, hillside bogs, and pine savannahs in the coastal plain (Weakley 2003).

Range:

Dwarf witch-alder is found from North Carolina to the Florida Panhandle and west to Alabama.





References

  • Godfrey. R.K. 1988. Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Northern Florida and Adjacent Georgia and Alabama. The University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia. Pages 372 - 373.

  • NatureServe. 2003. Internet Resource. NatureServe.

  • Patrick, T.S., Allison, J.R., and Krakow, G.A. 1995. Protected Plants of Georgia: AN INFORMATION MANUAL ON PLANTS DESIGNATED BY THE STATE OF GEORGIA AS ENDANGERED, THREATENED, RARE, OR UNUSUAL. Georgia Natural Heritage Program. Internet Resource. Protected Plants of Georgia.

  • Radford, A.E., Ahles, H.E., Bell, C.R. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

  • USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5. Internet Resource USDA Plants Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

  • Weakley, A.S. 2003. Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia, Working Draft. Internet Resource. Flora of the Carolinas and Virginia.