Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
Introductory
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo 1991. Ilex coriacea. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/ilecor/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
ILECOR
SYNONYMS :
Prinos lucidus Ait.
Prinos coriaceus Pursh
Ilex lucida (Ait) Torr. & Gray ex Wats.
SCS PLANT CODE :
ILCO
COMMON NAMES :
large gallberry
sweet gallberry
bay-gallbush
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name for large gallberry is Ilex
coriacea (Pursh) Chapm. (Aquifoliaceae). The Ilex genus consists of 13
species [9,15].
LIFE FORM :
Tree, Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Large gallberry grows along the Gulf and Southeastern coastal plains of
the United States. Its range extends from southeastern Virginia south
to northern and central Florida, and west to eastern Texas [2,3]. Large
gallberry extends inland from the Atlantic coast to eastern Tennessee
and from the Gulf coast to Arkansas [11].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
STATES :
AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC OK SC
TN TX VA
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K089 Black Belt
K090 Live oak - sea oats
K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
K114 Pocosin
K115 Sand pine - scrub
SAF COVER TYPES :
40 Post oak - blackjack oak
44 Chestnut oak
45 Pitch pine
46 Eastern redcedar
50 Black locust
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
57 Yellow-poplar
58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
61 River birch - sycamore
69 Sand pine
70 Longleaf pine
71 Longleaf pine - scrub oak
72 Southern scrub oak
73 Southern redcedar
74 Cabbage palmetto
75 Shortleaf pine
76 Shortleaf pine - oak
78 Virginia pine - oak
79 Virginia pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
83 Longleaf pine - slash pine
84 Slash pine
85 Slash pine - hardwood
87 Sweetgum - yellow poplar
88 Willow oak - water oak - diamondleaf oak
89 Live oak
91 Swamp chestnut oak - cherrybark oak
92 Sweetgum - willow oak
96 Overcup oak - water hickory
97 Atlantic white-cedar
99 Pond pine
100 Pondcypress
101 Baldcypress
102 Baldcypress - tupelo
103 Water tupelo - swamp tupelo
104 Sweetbay - swamp tupelo - redbay
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Large gallberry is a dominant understory species in the longleaf-slash
pine forest community [24].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Large gallberry is not a preferred livestock forage, but livestock will
eat branches of young plants when other forage is scarce [14,23].
PALATABILITY :
The palability of large gallberry to white-tailed deer is considered
fair, although deer feed on more preferable forage when available
[4,14].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
Large gallberry provides security cover for a variety of reptile and
amphibian species in the southern coastal parts of its range [21].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Large gallberry presumably provides watershed protection and erosion
control.
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Pine growth is reduced by overtopping of seedlings or proximity to large
gallberry and other shrubs [28]. Large gallberry can be controlled by
streamline basal application of the herbicide Garlon 4 [19].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Large gallberry is a small evergreen tree or large shrub, native to the
southeastern United States. Its fruits are shiny black berries. Plants
grow up to 7 feet (2.1 m) tall. The leaves are leathery. The flowers
are usually unisexual; the plants are dioecious [7,9,11].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (microphanerophyte)
Undisturbed State: Phanerophyte (nanophanerophyte)
Burned or Clipped State: Crytophyte (geophyte)
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Large gallberry regenerates vegetatively by sprouting from rhizomes [5].
It also regenerates sexually, although the details have not been studied
[27]. The nature of the fruit suggests that the seeds are dispersed by
animals.
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Large gallberry grows in pine savannas and flatwoods, shrub-tree bogs
and bays, open bogs, seepage areas in woodlands, on lower slopes, wooded
ravines, and depressions [7,11].
Typical soils are sandy, acidic, and low in organic matter. They are
often poorly drained, and frequently or seasonally flooded [2,7].
Large gallberry is common on longleaf pine or longleaf pine-slash pine
sites. Overstory associates include baldcypress and pondcypress
(Taxodium spp.), blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica), and water tupelo (N.
aquatica) [8,11].
Understory associates include saw-palmetto (Serenoa repens), sweetbay
(Magnolia virginiana), swamp cyrilla (Cyrilla racemiflora), bitter
gallberry (Ilex galbra), laurelleaf greenbrier (Smilax laurifolia),
buckwheat-tree (Cliftonia monophyla), blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), and
blackberries (Rubus spp.) [8,25].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Large gallberry is a mid to late seral species that grows well under a
canopy. It tends toward a mature forest and competes with tree
seedlings [6,19]. It typically does not on sites lacking the shade of a
dense canopy [17,18].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Large gallberry flowers between April and May; its fruit ripens from
September to October [7,11,27].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Large gallberry is sensitive to fire, but survives by resprouting from
rhizomes [5,29]
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
survivor species; on site surviving rhizomes
off site colonizer; seed carried by animals or water; post fire yr 1&2
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Large gallberry has very flammable foliage. Most fires top-kill the
plant [18].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Large gallberry sprouts from underground rhizomes after fire [29].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Prescribed burning on a 1- to 3-year cycle effectively controls large
gallberry [29].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Ilex coriacea
REFERENCES :
1. Allen, Charles M.; Stagg, Charles H.; Parris, Stephen D. 1988. Analysis
of the vegetation in pitcher plant bogs in two baygalls at Ft. Polk in
west central Louisiana. The Proceedings of the Louisiana Academy of
Sciences. 50: 1-6. [12118]
2. Boyer, W. D. 1990. Pinus palustris Mill. longleaf pine. In: Burns,
Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H., technical coordinators. Silvics of
North America. Volume 1. Conifers. Agric. Handb. 654. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 405-412. [13398]
3. Bramlett, David L. 1990. Pinus serotina Michx. pond pine. In: Burns,
Russell M.; Honkala, Barbara H., technical coordinators. Silvics of
North America. Volume 1. Conifers. Agric. Handb. 654. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service: 470-475. [13407]
4. Conover, M. R.; Kania, G. S. 1988. Browsing preference of white-tailed
deer for different ornamental species. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 16:
175-179. [8933]
5. Cypert, Eugene. 1961. The effects of fires in the Okefenokee Swamp in
1954 and 1955. American Midland Naturalist. 66(2): 485-503. [11018]
6. Duever, Michael J.; Riopelle, Lawrence A. 1983. Successional sequences
and rates on tree islands in the Okefenokee Swamp. American Midland
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United States. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 322 p.
[12764]
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that reduce redstem Ceanothus seed production in Idaho. In: Hyder,
Donald N., ed. Proceedings of the First Internationl Rangeland Congress;
1978 August 14-18; Denver, CO. Denver, CO: Society for Range Management:
355-358. [985]
9. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p.
(Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny
Series; vol. 2). [14935]
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1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
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ecology and phytosociology of the creeping blueberries, Vaccinium
section Herpothamnus. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 116(2):
114-133. [9645]
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of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
14. Lay, Daniel W. 1957. Browse quality and the effects of prescribed
burning in southern pine forests. Journal of Forestry. 55: 342-347.
[7633]
15. Little, Elbert L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees (native
and naturalized). Agric. Handb. 541. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 375 p. [2952]
16. Lyon, L. Jack; Stickney, Peter F. 1976. Early vegetal succession
following large northern Rocky Mountain wildfires. In: Proceedings, Tall
Timbers fire ecology conference and Intermountain Fire Research Council
fire and land management symposium; 1974 October 8-10; Missoula, MT. No.
14. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 355-373. [1496]
17. Matos, J. A.; Rudolph, D. C. 1985. The vegetation of the Roy E. Larsen
Sandylands Sanctuary in the Big Thicket of Texas. Castanea. 50(4):
228-249. [10114]
18. McKinley, Carol E.; Day, Frank P., Jr. 1979. Herb. prod. in cut-burned,
uncut-burned & contl areas of a Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) BSP
(Cupressaceae) stand in the Great Dismal Swamp. Bulletin of the Torrey
Botanical Club. 106(1): 20-28. [14089]
19. Miller, James H. 1990. Streamline basal application of herbicide for
small-stem hardwood control. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry.
14(4): 161-165. [13538]
20. Pearson, Henry A.; Grelen, Harold E.; Parresol, Bernie R.; Wright,
Vernon L. 1987. Detailed vegetative description of the longleaf-slash
pine type, Vernon District, Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana. In:
Pearson, Henry A.; Smeins, Fred E.; Thill, Ronald E., compilers.
Ecological, physical, and socioeconomic relationships within southern
National Forests: Proceedings of the southern evaluation project
workshop; 1987 May 26-27; Long Beach, MS. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-68. New
Orleans, LA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern
Forest Experiment Station: 107-115. [11574]
21. Pearson, Henry A.; Lohoefener, Renne R.; Wolfe, James L. 1987.
Amphibians and reptiles on longleaf-slash pine forests in southern
Mississippi. In: Pearson, Henry A.; Smeins, Fred E.; Thill, Ronald E.,
compilers. Ecological, physical, & socioeconomic relat. within southern
National Forests: Proceedings, Southern Eval. Proj. workshop; 1987 May
26-27; Longbeach, MS. Gen. Tech. Rep. SO-68. New Orleans, LA: U.S.
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geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
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influences in pond pine forests. Tech. Bull. No. 97. Raleigh, NC: North
Carolina State College, Agricultural Experiment Station. 56 p. In
cooperation with: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. [14546]
24. Stewart, Aberdeen, W.; Hurst, George A. 1987. Vegetation in the
longleaf-slash pine forest, Biloxi District, Desoto National Forest,
Mississippi. In: Pearson, Henry A.; Smeins, Fred E.; Thill, Ronald E.,
compilers. Ecological, physical, and socioeconomic relationships within
southern National Forests; 1987 May 26-27; Long Beach, MS. Gen. Tech.
Rep. SO-68. New Orleans, LA: United States Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Southern Experiment Station: 149-155. [10172]
25. Streng, D. R.; Harcombe, P. A. 1982. Why don't east Texas savannas grow
up to forest?. American Midland Naturalist. 108(2): 278-294. [10120]
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their erosion-control and wildlife values. Washington, DC: U.S.
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28. Wade, Dale P.; Wilhite, Lawrence P. 1981. Low intensity burn prior to
bedding and planting slash pine is of little value. In: Barnett, James
P., ed. Proceedings, 1st biennial southern silviculture research
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FEIS Home Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/ilecor/all.html