DIAPENSIACEAE - - Diapensia Family

Shortia galacifolia Torrey & A. Gray — Oconee Bells

Habitat:

On moist slopes, creekbanks, and rock outcrops in humid escarpment gorges with high rainfall, generally in deep shade under Rhododendron maximum and R. minus, at elevations (in NC) of 350-650m. Most of the population of this species, including the type locality, was destroyed in the early 1960's by the construction of Lake Jocassee. Various outlying locations, such as in NC (Swain and Macon counties), VA (Amherst County), and TN (Blount, Monroe, and McMinn counties) are not considered native, and are adventive or the result of persistence after cultivation. A recently discovered population in DeKalb County, AL may represent a natural occurrence and needs additional investigation of its nativity; for the moment it has been mapped as alien in AL.

Habitat information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].