Gordonia lasianthus

Gordonia lasianthus
Photo taken by Gil Nelson
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Order:	Theales
Family:	Theaceae
Genus:	Gordonia
Species:	G. lasianthus
Binomial name
Gordonia lasianthus (L.) Ellis
Natural range of Gordonia lasianthus from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: loblolly bay

Description

A description of Gordonia lasianthus is provided in The Flora of North America.

Loblolly bay is a perennial, evergreen tree with large, white, fragrant, cup-shaped flowers. The leaves are leathery, entire, oblong and oblanceolate . It often grows with sweet bay, (Magnolia virginiana) and is easily distinguishable by having a light green underside while sweet bay has a white underside .

Distribution

Found in hydric habitats throughout the Coastal Plain.

Ecology

Habitat

Gordonia lasianthus has been found along margins of titi swamps, densely wooded hammocks, swampy depressions, cypress domes, an ecotone between a titi-sweet bay swamp and a pond pine flatwood, ravine bottoms, shrub bogs, wet pine flatwoods, mesic steepheads, pocosins, bayheads, and bald cypress/mixed hardwoods swamps. Seedlings have been observed to require significant site disturbance exposing mineral soil, to become established (Gresham and Lipscomb 1985). It has been found to occur in disturbed areas such as cut-over pinewoods and powerline corridors (FSU Herbarium). Grows in acidic, swampy soils, with an accumulation of organic matter. Soil types include Spodosols, Inceptisols, Ultisols, and Histosols and has been observed to grow in loamy sand (FSU Herbarium). Associated species include Stewartia, Illicium, Ilex opaca, Ilex glabra, Persea borbonia, Magnolia glauca, Rhus vernix, Clethra, Cliftonia, Nyssa sylvatica, Cyrilla racemiflora, Pinus elliottii, Quercus nigra, Liquidambar, Magnolia virginiana, Oxydendron, Illicium floridanum, Myrica cerifera, Liriodendron, Pickneya, Rhododendron viscosum, Lyonia lucida, Serenoa, Osmunda, Sphagnum, and Lycopodium (FSU Herbarium).

Loblolly bay is rarely observed to occur in pure stands (Gresham and Lipscomb 1985), but has been observed to be the dominate canopy in some Carolina bays (Dimick et al. 2010).

Phenology

The large, white fragrant flowers can be found flowering May through July (FSU Herbarium). The fruit is a hard, woody, five-vavled capsule about 0.6 inches long, four to eight flat, winged seeds can be found in each valve .

Pollination

The following Hymenoptera families and species were observed visiting flowers of Gordonia lasianthus at Archbold Biological Station (Deyrup 2015):

Sphecidae: Ectemnius rufipes ais

Vespidae: Pachodynerus erynnis, Polistes dorsalis hunteri

References and notes

Deyrup, M.A. and N.D. 2015. Database of observations of Hymenoptera visitations to flowers of plants on Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA.

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: October 2015. Collectors: Loran C. Anderson, Sarah Baxter, James R. Burkhaulter, N.H. Chevalier, Andre F. Clewell, H.S. Conard, H.A. Davis, Wayne R. Faircloth, A. Gholson Jr., R.K. Godfrey, D.W. Hall, Don Harrison, E.A. Hebb, R. Kral, O. Lakela, S.W. Leonard, Hui Lin Li, T. Myint, J.B. Nelson, Jackie Patman, James D. Ray Jr., C. Rhinehart, P.L. Redfearn Jr., Grady W. Reinert, Cecil R. Slaughter, A.G. Shuey, R.R. Smith, E. Tyson, D.B. Ward, Jean W. Wooten. States and Counties: Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Hamilton, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lake, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Nassau, Okaloosa, Orange, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, Taylor, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton.

Georgia: Clarke, Grady. Pennsylvania: Phillidelphia. South Carolina: Pickens. Compiled by Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.