ML070720615
| ML070720615 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Susquehanna  |
| Issue date: | 03/07/2007 |
| From: | State of NC |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| ALICIA MULLINS 301-415-1224 | |
| References | |
| Download: ML070720615 (28) | |
Text
Shrubs Tag alder Alnus serrulata (Ait.) Willd.
Family: Betulaceae Birch Family Habit: Multiple stemmed deciduous shrub up to 5 m in height. Twigs rusty and pubescent, later becoming smooth.
Leaves: Alternate, ovate or obovate shaped with toothed margins. Leaves are 6-10 cm long and 2.5-5 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Both male and female flowers occur on shrub and are on stalks. Female 'flowers' or catkins appear as miniature 'pine cones'. The male catkins are initially short and eventually become dangling.
Habitat: Streambanks, freshwater marshes, and swamps throughout NC.
Field characteristics: Both female 'cones' and male catkins (fruits) persist through winter.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum L.
Family: Ericaceae Heath Family http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (1 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habit: Deciduous shrub up to 4 m tall with trailing stems.
Leaves: Alternate, elliptical with entire or finely toothed edges.
Flowers/fruit: Clusters of small white or pink urn shaped flowers (usually less than 1 cm long).
Blueberries are produced in late spring.
Habitat: Swamps, forested wetlands, sometimes upland woods.
Found in the lower piedmont and coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Look for 'urn' shaped flowers or blueberries, characteristic of this family. Gaylussacia spp. are very similar, but contain yellow dots of resin on the undersides of the leaves.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Buckeye, Painted buckeye Aesculus sylvatica Bartr.
Family: Hippocastanaceae Buckeye Family http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (2 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habit: Deciduous understory shrub up to 3 m tall, rarely to 10 m.
Leaves: Oppositely arranged, palmately compound leaves with 5-7 leaflets. Leaflets are 8-20 cm long and 3-7 cm wide. Leaflet shape is lanceolate or obovate.
Flowers/fruit: Tubular flowers are cream, yellow or pink on a stalk. Buckeye seeds are produced inside thick capsule.
Habitat: Rich woods, river banks and floodplains, mainly in the piedmont.
Field characteristics: This shrub is usually the first to leaf out in early spring and also the first to drop leaves in the fall. The 'buckeye' seed produced is reputed to be a good luck charm, however, it is poisonous to humans if ingested.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis (L.)
Family: Rubiaceae Madder Family Habit: Deciduous shrub, 1-3 m tall.
Leaves: Opposite or whorled and entire. Broad leaves are ovoid to elliptic, with pointed ends. Leaves 7-15 cm long, 3-http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (3 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs 10 cm broad.
Flowers/fruit: Flowers are small white tubes, formed on globose heads about 3 cm in diameter. Clusters appear as balls or 'buttons' following summer flowering period.
Habitat: Perimeter of lakes, ponds, freshwater marshes, forested wetlands, along streams throughout NC, but less frequent in the mountains.
Field characteristics: Twigs have raised elongated lenticels. A brown triangular membrane is present between petioles. Spherical 'buttons' persist through winter. Early settlers were said to have used the buttons in clothing.
When flowering, butterflies are strongly attracted.
Wetland Indicator Status: OBL Red chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia (L.) Pers.
Family: Rosaceae Rose Family Habit: Deciduous shrub, 2-3 m in height. This shrub spreads by rhizomes and often forms dense colonies.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, elliptical leaves with finely toothed margins.
Leaves are 4-10 cm long and 2-4 cm wide. Leaves contain minute reddish brown trichomes along midrib vein.
Flowers/fruit: A cluster of small pinkish-white 5-petaled flowers are http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (4 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs produced on the ends of branches. Fruit is a red berry-like pome.
Habitat: Low woodlands, pine savannas, creek banks, seepage slopes and swamps.
Field characteristics: Red fruits persist in the winter and leaves are burgundy in fall.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Coastal dog-hobble Leucothoe axillaris (Lam.)
D. Don Family: Ericaceae Heath Family Habit: Low evergreen shrub with loose arching branches, up to 1.5 m tall.
Leaves: Alternate lanceolate to elliptic shaped leaves with toothed margins. Leaves 5-13 cm long, 2-5 cm broad.
Flowers/fruit: Whitish 'urn' shaped flowers in racemes, originating from the axis. Racemes typically consist of more than 15 flowers.
Fruit is illustrated below.
Habitat: Wet woodlands and http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (5 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs depressions, flood plains and streambanks, mainly in the coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Trailing branches with alternate evergreen leaves, usually in knee-high colonies in floodplain forests. Capsule (fruit) a distinctive dark brown sphere with 5-lobed sutures. Thick evergreen stands of this plant were said to make hunting dogs hobble, hence the common name.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Swamp dog-hobble Leucothoe racemosa (L.)
Gray Family: Ericaceae Heath Family Habit: Deciduous shrub reaching up to 4 m, but typically smaller.
Leaves: Alternate, elliptical, finely toothed leaves. Size varies greatly on branches.
Leaves 3-9 cm long, 1-4 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: White 'urn' shaped flowers on straight or slightly arching racemes which may be as long as 9 cm. Fruit is a dark brown capsule with 5 sutures.
Habitat: Swamps, cypress-gum depressions, along shorelines, mainly in the coastal plain and lower piedmont.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (6 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Field characteristics: Distinctive fruit capsules arranged in racemes (as species name implies). Difficult to identify if flowers or fruits are absent.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Silky dogwood Cornus amomum P. Mill Family: Cornaceae Dogwood Family Habit: Deciduous shrub reaching up to 5 m.
Leaves: Opposite, entire, ovate or elliptical shaped leaves with typical dogwood venation. Leaves are up to 10 cm long and 7 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Flat-topped cyme, which produce blue drupes (berry-like fruits).
Habitat: Marshes, swamp forests, along rivers and streams mainly in the piedmont and mountains. Occasionally found in the coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Pith of second year growth is brown, whereas the pith of Cornus stricta (swamp dogwood
- more coastal) is white.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW+
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (7 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Elderberry Sambucus canadensis L.
Family: Caprifoliaceae Honeysuckle Family Habit: Deciduous shrub up to 4 m tall. Contains multiple stems with white, spongy or hollow pith.
Leaves: Opposite and pinnately compound with 5-11 leaflets (usually 7). Leaflet edges contain toothed margins.
Sometimes the lower leaflets are divided into 3 parts. Width of leaflets is variable from 5-15 cm long by 2-6 cm wide. Leaflets may contain small stipule-like tissue at point of attachment. Stipule is present at leaf base.
Flowers/fruit: Inflorescence consists of a dense flat topped or gently rounded cyme clustered with small white 5-petaled flowers. Fruit is a purple berry.
Habitat: Common in open areas including freshwater marshes, swamps, alluvial forests, wet pastures and is opportunistic in disturbed sites. Found statewide.
Field characteristics: Distinctive raised lenticels on bark, opposite compound leaves. Fruit is edible and is used in preserves, wine and in other food, however the rest of the plant is poisonous if consumed.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW-http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (8 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Fetterbush Lyonia lucida (Lam.) K. Koch Family: Ericaceae Heath Family Habit: Small evergreen shrub, although may reach as high as 3 m. Usually colonial in nature.
Leaves: Leathery, dark green leaves with smooth, entire margins. Leaves generally elliptical and are 3-9 cm long by 1-4 cm wide on flattened branches.
Flowers/fruit: Beautiful when flowering.
Clusters of pinkish (sometimes white) 'urn' shaped flowers arising from axis. Fruit is an oval capsule, about 5 mm long.
Habitat: Usually found where surface water is present most of the year in pocosins, pine flats, savannas and bay forests mainly in the coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Note shiny evergreen leaves with prominent mid-vein. Veins also encircling leaf margins is very characteristic. Branches are distinctly flattened below nodes.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (9 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Hearts-a-burstin', Strawberry bush Evonymus americana L.
Family: Celastraceae Bittersweet Family Habit: Small deciduous shrub to 2 or 3 m, but most commonly 1 m.
Leaves: Opposite, serrated, lanceolate leaves.
Deciduous leaves are slow to drop, sometimes lasting until early winter.
Flowers/fruit: Small light green, 5-petaled flowers.
Fruit is a bumpy lobed reddish sphere which splits into 3-5 sections, exposing red seeds.
Habitat: Stream banks, slopes, rich woodlands throughout NC.
Field characteristics: Green, 4-sided branches, attractive fruits distinctive and appearing like strawberries or bursting hearts as the common names imply.
Although this genus has long been referred to as Euonymus, it was recently renamed to its original name, Evonymus, which was miscopied as Euonymus.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC-Horse-sugar, Sweetleaf Symplocos tinctoria (L.) L'Her.
Family: Symplocaceae Sweetleaf Family http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (10 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habit: Shrub or small tree reaching 8 m in height.
Horse-sugar is tardily deciduous with leaves persisting into winter and a few still into spring.
Leaves: Alternate, elliptical or oblanceolate, often with red or purplish blotches. Edges of leaves have minute serrations. Undersides of leaves have peach-like fuzz.
Flowers/fruit: Yellow, fragrant petal-less flowers with many stamens in spherical clusters close to stem. Fruit is an oblong green drupe.
Habitat: Rich woods, ravines, floodplain and bottomland forests, pine flats, sandy thickets, mainly in the coastal plain.
Field characteristics: As the common name implies, the leaves taste sweet when chewed and are therefore a favorite of ungulates. This is a monotypic genus - the only genus and species in the sweetleaf family. Often wrongly identified as mountain laurel in some areas.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC Deciduous holly, Possum haw Ilex decidua Walt.
Family: Aquifoliaceae Holly Family Habit: Large deciduous shrub or small understory tree, reaching 10 m.
Leaves: Elliptic to obovate, with create margins, 3-5 cm long and 1-3 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Fruit is a red spherical drupe that persists after leaves fall.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (11 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habitat: Floodplain forests and along creeks and uplands, chiefly in the piedmont.
Field characteristics: Corky leaf scars on twigs are distinctive as illustrated below.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW-Bitter gallberry, Inkberry Ilex glabra (L.) Gray Family: Aquifoliaceae Holly Family Habit: Evergreen colonial shrub to 2 or 3 m tall.
Leaves: Elliptic to obovate or oblanceolate leathery green leaves.
Leaves are 2-5 cm long and 1-2 cm wide. Leaves are pointed at the tips and have a pair of teeth pointing toward the apex. The undersides of leaves contain scattered punctate reddish glands.
Flowers/fruit: Fruit is a black spherical 'berry-like' drupe when mature.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (12 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habitat: Pine savannas, flatwoods, pocosins, bay forests. Mainly a coastal plain species.
Field characteristics: Fruits (drupes) persistent throughout winter. Fruits from 'inkberry' have been used for producing ink. Leathery, evergreen leaves are narrower than those of I. coriacea. Stipules at the base of the leaves are dark-brown and obvious.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Sweet gallberry, Inkberry Ilex coriacea (Pursh) Chapm.
Family: Aquifoliaceae Holly Family Habit: Evergreen shrub up to 5 m tall.
Leaves: Alternate, leathery elliptical or obovate leaves, with bristle-like teeth usually covering the upper half of the leaf margin. Leaves are 4-9 cm long and 1.5-4 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Fruit is a shiny black, globose drupe which drops off when mature.
Habitat: Pocosins, bay forests, pine savannas and flatwoods in the coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Similar to I. glabra, but generally a taller plant and with wider leaves. The last pair of bristles are not paired as in I. glabra.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (13 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Winterberry Ilex verticillata (L.) Gray Family: Aquifoliaceae Holly Family Habit: Large deciduous shrub ranging from 1-4 m.
Leaves: Elliptical to obovate 4-10 cm long and 2-5 cm wide. Margins are serrated and leave surfaces are rough (pubescent) with depressed veins. A pair of small black stipules occur at the leaf base.
Flowers/fruit: The fruit is a drupe which appears as a bright red spherical berry; it may persist into the winter.
Habitat: Swamps, alongside streams and wet woodlands, scattered across the state.
Field characteristics: Lenticels (dots) on branches and striking, red, berry-like drupes are distinctive.
All hollies have small black stipules at the leaf bases.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Marsh elder Iva frutescens (L.)
Family: Asteraceae Composite or Aster Family Habit: Dense shrub with many branches, 1-2 m tall.
Leaves: Opposite, (except in flowering branchlets), elliptic http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (14 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs to lanceolate fleshy leaves which measure 3-8 cm long and 0.5 to 2 cm wide.Flowers/fruit: Greenish flowers occur in terminal spikes 3-10 cm long.
Habitat: Brackish marshes, estuarine shores, mud flats and vacant lots in the outer coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Terminal spikes of fruits with dark brown nutlets persist through winter.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW+
Common pawpaw Asimina triloba (L.)
DunalFamily: Annonaceae Custard Apple Family Habit: Understory shrub or small tree up to 10 m, often forming colonies.
Leaves: Alternate, entire, oblanceolate leaves, with acuminate tips, about 23 cm long and 8 cm wide. Leaves malodorus when crushed.
Flowers/fruit: Large (3-4 cm) burgundy flowers with 6 petals.
Three burgundy sepals are also present. Fruits are fleshy edible, yellow and banana-like, up to 12 cm long.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (15 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habitat: Rich slopes, low woods, bottomlands.
Field characteristics: Usually an understory shrub. Distinctive flowers and fruits help in recognition when present.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC Chinese privet Ligustrum sinense Lour.
Family: Oleaceae Olive Family Habit: Evergreen shrub or small tree, often forming dense colonies, to 10 m in height. Twigs and branchlets are densely pubescent.
Leaves: Opposite, entire, elliptical or ovate leaves, 4 cm long and 1-2 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Small white (unpleasantly) fragrant flowers forming panicles. Fruits are bluish-black drupes.
Habitat: Low woods, disturbed wetlands and waste areas throughout the state.
Field characteristics: Opposite branches. Once established, this native from China rapidly colonizes waste areas and wetlands.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (16 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Rhododendron, Rosebay, Great laurel Rhododendron maximum L.
Family: Ericaceae Heath Family Habit: Evergreen shrub, forming dense thickets.
Leaves: Alternate, shiny, dark leathery oblanceolate to elliptic leaves. Leaves are 10-30 cm long and 2-8 cm wide. Leaves droop when there's a frost and as temperatures decrease, the leaves curl lengthwise. The colder the temperature, the tighter the leaf curl.
Flowers/fruit: Showy, five petaled flower, light pink to white.
Habitat: Abundant in NC mountains in moist coves, ravines and in mountain bogs. Also along stream banks and in mesic woods in the mountains and upper piedmont.
Field characteristics: Showy evergreen leaves. Green parts of rhododendron are toxic to animals as is honey made from Rhododendron flowers.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC-http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (17 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Sea Ox-eye Borrichia frutescens (L.) DC.
Family: Asteraceae Composite or Aster Family Habit: Low growing succulent, rhizomonous shrub forming extensive colonies almost to 1 m tall.
Leaves: Opposite, thick, narrow to broadly oblanceolate, 2-8 cm long and 1-3 cm wide. Leaves mostly entire, although, sometimes slightly dentate. Petiole bases attached in a 'U' shape against stem.
Flowers/fruit: Flowers are attractive and yellow and look like typical daisy flowers.
Habitat: Common in brackish and salt marshes, mud flats and vacant lots in the outer coastal plain.
Field characteristics: Three prominent veins in leaves are distinctive as well as the 'daisy' flower, which persist from summer through fall.
Wetland Indicator Status: OBL Silverling, Groundsel tree Baccharis halimifolia L.
Family: Asteraceae Composite or Aster Family http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (18 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habit: Broad-leaved deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub or small tree with ascending branches 1-4 m tall.
Leaves: Alternate and toothed or entire with serrations mostly towards leaf apex. Leaves are elliptic to obovate, 3-7 cm long and 1-4 cm wide, conspicuously pale blue-green. Leaves subtending flowers are not serrated.
Flowers/fruit: White feathery flowers in small heads arranged in stalked clusters.
Habitat: Salt and brackish marshes, banks, old fields throughout the coastal plain and piedmont, most common in maritime wetlands.
Field characteristics: This is the only member of the aster family reaching 'tree' stature. When in flower and in fruit, the shrub appears white due to the cotton-like flowers.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC Spicebush Lindera benzoin (L.)
Blume Family: Lauraceae Laurel Family Habit: Deciduous understory shrub to 3 m tall, often forming colonies alongside streams and in bottomlands.
Leaves: Alternate, obovate, thin, 6-14 cm http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (19 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs long and 2-6 cm wide with acuminate tips and entire margins. Leaf undersides are distinctly light green.Flowers/fruit: Small yellow flowers which produce red elliptical drupes up to 1 cm wide.
Habitat: Stream margins and rich moist woods, floodplain forests, mainly in the piedmont and mountains.
Field characteristics: Leaves and twigs are lemon-fragrant when crushed. Stems have distinctive lenticels.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Swamp rose Rosa palustris Marsh.
Family: Rosaceae Rose Family Habit: Broad-leaved deciduous shrub with decurved thorn-like prickles.
Grows to 2 m tall and reproduces by runners, sometimes forming thick stands.
Leaves: Alternate, pinnately compound. Leaflets are elliptical and finely toothed.
Number varies from 5-9 http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (20 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs leaflets, with usually 7.
Leaflets are 1-5 cm long and 0.5 to 2 cm wide with the largest leaflets towards the tip of the leaf.
Flowers/fruit: Large, pink 5-petaled flowers are formed at the tips of branches, later forming red 'rose hips'.
Habitat: Marshes or wet shores of streams, lakes, and swamps throughout NC.
Field characteristics: Plant is easily recognized because of its typical rose features (prickles, rose hips). Note the long stipule wrapped at the base of the petiole. A similar species, Multiflora rose has small white fragrant flowers.
Wetland Indicator Status: OBL Sweet pepperbush Clethra alnifolia L.
Family: Clethraceae White Alder Family Habit: Broad-leaved deciduous shrub to 3 m tall.
Leaves: Alternate, elliptical, obovate or oblanceolate leaves. Leaves are toothed and approximately 8 cm long by 4 cm wide. The widest part of the leaf is typically towards the tip.
Flowers/fruit: Fragrant small white 5-petaled flowers produced in racemes.
Habitat: Wet pine savannas, flatwoods, bays, pocosins in the coastal plain and lower piedmont.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (21 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Field characteristics: Similar to Virginia willow, but note leaf shape of sweet pepperbush which is widest past the middle, toward the leaf tip. The racemes with empty seed capsules persist through the winter. Thick, light brown scales cover the current year's stems.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Ti-ti Cyrilla racemiflora L.
Family: Cyrillaceae Cyrilla Family Habit: Deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub or small tree to 8 m. tall, often forming dense thickets.
Leaves: Alternate, usually narrow and obovate or elliptic.
Variable in size, up to 10 cm long and 2-3 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Racemes of white flowers from 5 to 15 cm long originate from the previous season's growth.
Flowers have 5 petals.
Habitat: Pocosins, swamps, pine flatwoods and streambanks in acidic, sandy or peaty soils, chiefly in the coastal plain and sometimes found in the piedmont.
Field characteristics: Distinctive raised ridge under leaf scar. Racemes of dry fruits persist through the winter.
In fall, the leaves are often red or yellow.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (22 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Wetland Indicator Status: FACW Black haw Viburnum prunifolium L.
Family: Caprifoliaceae Honeysuckle Family Habit: Medium to large shrub.
Leaves: Opposite leaves may be elliptical, ovate or obovate in shape. Leaves are minutely serrated.
Flowers/fruit: Flowers appear in the typical 'flat-topped' inflorescence (cyme) and fruits are black drupes.
Habitat: Low woods throughout the piedmont, occasionally in the coastal plain.
Field characteristics: As is characteristic of Viburnums, leaves are opposite and buds are appressed or upright.
Plant may have small leaves that are produced from side shoots (as pictured below).
Wetland Indicator Status: FACU http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (23 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Possum haw, Southern wild raisin Viburnum nudum L.
Family: Caprifoliaceae Honeysuckle Family Habit: Medium sized deciduous shrub up to 5 m tall.
Leaves: Opposite leaves are broad, elliptical or obovate in shape with entire or slightly wavy margins. Leaves are shiny green, leathery and widest at the middle, measuring 5-10 cm long and 2-6 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Flowers appear in the typical 'flat-topped' inflorescence (cyme) and fruits are compressed black drupes, about 1 cm long.
Habitat: Fresh water marshes and swamps, pocosins, wet flats, low woods throughout NC.
Field characteristics: Opposite branching with distinctive appressed or upright buds. Similar to swamp dogwood which also has opposite leaves.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW+
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (24 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Southern arrowwood Viburnum dentatum L.
Family: Caprifoliaceae Honeysuckle Family Habit: Broad-leaved deciduous shrub to 3 m.
Lower stems are characteristically straight.
Leaves: Opposite, widely ovate leaves with acute ends. Leaves are 5-12 cm long and 4-10 cm wide with serrated edges.
Flowers/fruit: White flowers form flat-topped clusters at the end of branches. Fruit is a blue-gray drupe.
Habitat: Swamps, forested wetlands.
Field characteristics: Similar to V.
rafinesquianum (Downy arrowwood) but Southern arrowwood has leaves that are less densely pubescent and has longer petioles.
Stipules at the leaf bases are absent in V.
dentatum but present in V. rafinesquianum.
As the name (arrowwood) implies, the straight wood was formerly used as arrows.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC Virginia-willow Itea virginica L.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (25 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Family: Saxifragaceae Saxifrage Family Habit: Deciduous, sprawling shrub to 2 m.
Leaves: Alternate, finely toothed, glabrous, elliptical leaves. Leaves oblong with parallel sides and are 2-9 cm long and 1-4 cm wide.
Flowers/fruit: Clusters of white 5-petaled flowers form a narrow raceme at the end of branches. The 2 lobed beaked capsules persist.
Habitat: Low woods, swamps, alongside streams, throughout NC.
Field characteristics: Branches are often green above and burgundy on the undersides.
Stems have a white chambered pith.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW+
Wax-myrtle Myrica cerifera L.
Family: Myricaceae Bayberry Family Habit: Evergreen shrub or small tree to 7 m.
Leaves: Alternate, narrowly elliptic, oblanceolate leaves with a few serrations http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (26 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs from the middle of leaves toward leaf tips.
Leaves are thick and have yellow resinous glands on both undersides and top surface of leaves.
Flowers/fruit: Male and female flowers are on separate shrubs. The male shrubs produce catkins in the spring and the female shrubs have oval, white waxy fruits.
Habitat: Low ground, salt or brackish marshes, pine savannas, flatwoods, swamps, uplands chiefly in the coastal plain and also in the piedmont.
Field characteristics: A similar species M. heterophylla has resinous dots on leaf surface only. Leaves are aromatic when crushed. Berries are used for scents and candles.
Wetland Indicator Status: FAC+
Bayberry Myrica heterophylla Raf.
Family: Myricaceae Bayberry Family Habit: Evergreen shrub to 2 m.
Leaves: Alternate, elliptical, oblanceolate or obovate leaves with a few shallow serrations toward leaf tips. Yellow resinous glands are on the leaf surface only.
Flowers/fruit: Bayberry has dark brown globose fruits which may appear white from waxy covering.
http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (27 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM
Shrubs Habitat: Pocosins, bay forests, wet pine savannas and flatwoods in the coastal plain, rarely in the piedmont.
Field characteristics: Very similar to wax myrtle, which has yellow resinous dots on top and undersides of leaves.
Wetland Indicator Status: FACW http://h2o.enr.state.nc.us/esb/Wetplant/shrubscont.htm (28 of 28)3/7/2007 11:27:44 AM