Vaccinium stamineum

From Coastal Plain Plants Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search

Common name: dwarf deerberry[1], Appalachian deerberry[1], Florida deerberry[1], whiteleaf deerberry[1], southern deerberry[1], common deerberry[1]

Vaccinium stamineum
Vaccinium stamineum SEF.jpg
Photo by John Gwaltney hosted at Southeastern Flora.com
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Order: Ericales
Family: Ericaceae
Genus: Vaccinium
Species: V. stamineum
Binomial name
Vaccinium stamineum
L.
VACC STAM DIST.JPG
Natural range of Vaccinium stamineum from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Taxonomic Notes

Varieties: Vaccinium stamineum Linnaeus var. 1; Vaccinium stamineum Linnaeus var. 2; Vaccinium stamineum Linnaeus var. caesium (Greene) D.B. Ward; Vaccinium stamineum Linnaeus var. sericeum (C. Mohr) D.B. Ward; Vaccinium stamineum Linnaeus var. stamineum.[2]

Description

V. stamineum is a perennial low-growing shrub of the Ericaceae (Heath) family native to North America and Canada that can grow in multiple stems that usually do not exceed 6' in height. The plant develops colonies from underground runners. Deerberries have leaves that are up to 3" long and egg-shaped with a distinct white coloration on the underside of the foliage. The bell-shaped flowers begin appearing in the early spring, and the resulting summer berries are small and pale blue or purple in color.[3][4][5][6]

Distribution

V. stamineum is found in the southeastern corner of the United States from Texas to Maine, as well as the Ontario region of Canada.[3]

Ecology

Habitat

V. stamineum proliferates in pinelands, xeric to submesic woodlands and forests, including pineoak/heath and shrub balds, pine flatwoods, and rock outcrops (unlike most species in Vaccinium, often on mafic, ultramafic, or calcareous rocks).[1] Specimens have been collected from planted pine in sand ridge, drying loamy sands, old field, slash pine scrub oak, longleaf pineland, mesic hammock, mixed hardwood forest, floodplain, hardwood hammock, and recently burned pineland.[7] V. stamineum responds negatively to agricultural-based soil disturbance in South Carolina coastal plain communities. This marks it as a possible indicator species for remnant woodlands.[8][9] When exposed to soil disturbance by military training in West Georgia, V. stamineum responds negatively by way of absence.[10]

Vaccinium stamineum var. stamineum is an indicator species for the Clayhill Longleaf Woodlands community type as described in Carr et al. (2010).[11]

Phenology

V. stamineum has been observed to flower February through May and in July.[12]

Seed dispersal

This species is thought to be dispersed by consumption by vertebrates.[13]

Fire ecology

V. stamineum is not fire resistant but readily resprouts following fire[3] and is common in native pine communities treated with frequent fire.[14][15] Populations have been known to persist through repeated annual burns.[16][17][18]

Herbivory and toxicology

V. stamineum has medium palatability for browsing and grazing animals.[3] The berries are generally too large for small songbirds to eat whole, but are accessible as forage to a variety of mammal species making them an important wildlife food source across eastern North America.[19][20][21] Additionally, this species has been observed with ground-nesting bees from the Andrenidae family such as Andrena carlini, A. carolina, A. cressonii, A. imitatrix, A. nivalis, A. platyparia, A. rufosignata, A. vicina, and A. wilkella, bees from the Apidae family such as Bombus ashtoni, Nomada maculata and Xylocopa virginica, plasterer bees such as Hylaeus modestus (family Colletidae), sweat bees from the Halictidae family such as Augochlorella aurata, Lasioglossum acuminatum, L. birkmanni, L. coeruleum, and L. quebecense, leafcutting bees from the Megachilidae family such as Coelioxys porterae, M. gemula, M. mendica, Osmia inspergens, and O. virga, and bees from the Melittidae family such as Melitta americana and Melitta eickworti.[22]

Conservation, cultivation, and restoration

V. stamineum is listed as endangered by the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife Nongame and Natural Heritage Program.[3]

Cultural use

Vaccinium stamineum produces a berry that can be eaten raw or used to make goods such as jellies and pies.[23]

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Weakley, A. S. (2015). Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States. Chapel Hill, NC, University of North Carolina Herbarium.
  2. Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-atlantic states. Working Draf of 21 May 2015. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 USDA Plant Database https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=VAST
  4. Denhof, Carol. 2012. Understory Plant Spotlight Deerberry Vaccinium stamineum L. The Longleaf Leader. Vol. V. Iss. 2. Page 12
  5. Christman, Steve (2000, August 8). Vaccinium stamineum. Floridata. Retrieved June 7, 2012 from http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/vacc_sta.cfm.
  6. Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
  7. Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Robert K. Godfrey, Loran C. Anderson, Travis MacClendon, Karen MacClendon, Bian Tan, Scott Zona, Gary R. Knight, Richard S. Mitchell, K. Craddock Burks, D. L. Fichtner, R. A. Norris, R. F. Doren, K. M. Meyer, A. Townesmith, T. E. Smith, J. Beckner, W. G. D’Arcy, Annemarie Post, Cecil R. Slaughter, Sidney McDaniel, Leon Neel, R. Komarek, Richard Carter. States and Counties: Florida: Bay, Calhoun, Columbia, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, St. Johns, Suwannee, Wakulla, and Washington. Georgia: Atkinson, Brooks, Grady, Taylor, and Thomas.
  8. Brudvig, L.A., E Grman, C.W. Habeck, and J.A. Ledvina. (2013). Strong legacy of agricultural land use on soils and understory plant communities in longleaf pine woodlands. Forest Ecology and Management 310: 944-955.
  9. Brudvig, L.A., J.L. Orrock, E.I. Damschen, C.D. Collins, P.G. Hahn, W.B. Mattingly, J.W. Veldman, and J.L. Walker. (2014). Land-Use History and Contemporary Management Inform an Ecological Reference Model for Longleaf Pine Woodland Understory Plant Communities. PLoS ONE 9(1): e86604.
  10. Dale, V.H., S.C. Beyeler, and B. Jackson. (2002). Understory vegetation indicators of anthropogenic disturbance in longleaf pine forests at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA. Ecological Indicators 1(3):155-170.
  11. Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.
  12. Nelson, G. PanFlora: Plant data for the eastern United States with emphasis on the Southeastern Coastal Plains, Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. www.gilnelson.com/PanFlora/ Accessed: 29 MAY 2018
  13. Kirkman, L. Katherine. Unpublished database of seed dispersal mode of plants found in Coastal Plain longleaf pine-grasslands of the Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia.
  14. Brudvig, L. A., E. Grman, C. W. Habeck, J. L. Orrock and J. A. Ledvina 2013. Strong legacy of agricultural land use on soils and undestory plant communities in longleaf pine woodlands. Forest Ecology and Management 310:944-955.
  15. Brudvig, L. A., J. L. Orrock, Damschen, C. D. Collins, P. G. Hahn, W. B. Mattingly, J. W. Veldman and J. L. Walker 2014. Land-use history and contemporary management inform an ecological reference model for longleaf pine woodland undestory plant communities. PLoS ONE 9:e86604. 10.1371/journal.pone.0086604
  16. Robertson, K.M. Unpublished data collected from Pebble Hill Fire Plots, Pebble Hill Plantation, Thomasville, Georgia.
  17. Glitzenstein, J. S., D. R. Streng, R. E. Masters, K. M. Robertson and S. M. Hermann 2012. Fire-frequency effects on vegetation in north Florida pinelands: Another look at the long-term Stoddard Fire Research Plots at Tall Timbers Research Station. Forest Ecology and Management 264: 197-209.
  18. Platt, W.J., R. Carter, G. Nelson, W. Baker, S. Hermann, J. Kane, L. Anderson, M. Smith, K. Robertson. 2021. Unpublished species list of Wade Tract old-growth longleaf pine savanna, Thomasville, Georgia.
  19. Denhof, Carol. 2012. Understory Plant Spotlight Deerberry Vaccinium stamineum L. The Longleaf Leader. Vol. V. Iss. 2. Page 12
  20. Christman, Steve (2000, August 8). Vaccinium stamineum. Floridata. Retrieved June 7, 2012 from http://www.floridata.com/ref/v/vacc_sta.cfm.
  21. Radford, A.E., H.E. Ahles, and C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.
  22. Discoverlife.org [1]
  23. Hardin, J.W., Arena, J.M. 1969. Human Poisoning from Native and Cultivated Plants. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina.