A FLORISTIC INVENTORY OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF PRICE FALLS

Alison Mainers
McLoud High School
McLoud, Oklahoma 74851

ABSTRACT

Price Falls is a small section of land located in Murray county in South central Oklahoma. The falls are found approximately five miles South of Davis. The land is owned, operated, and managed by the Independent Order of Oddfellow who have established a year round camping and recreational facility near the falls. Most of the area surveyed is on the banks of a shallow creek (Falls Creek) that feeds into the Washita River. Other areas include a travertine rock cliff face and a 45 meter stretch of limestone hillside. The goal of this project was to conduct a floristic survey of the vascular plants of Price Falls. Three collecting trips, September 1, 30, and October 28, yielded 81 genera and 42 families.

INTRODUCTION

The Oddfellow and Rebecca Camp is a family campground that holds a short camp program in the summer for youth. They offer camp and picnic sites, recreational vehicles, and swimming in the cool clean pools of Arbuckle spring water. Paying a small fee for swimming seems worth while when surrounded by many varieties of native and introduced ferns, trees, grasses and other plants. Despite its vast diversity and beauty, this area remains to be botanically unknown. No known floristic research has been conducted on the area says Chuck Conner, Vice Chairman and co-owner/care-taker of the camp with his wife, Jerriee. His knowledge of the area is also shared by the head of the botany department at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Mike Palmer. He had no knowledge on any floristic research done in the Price Falls area. My objective of this paper was to conduct a floristic survey of the vascular plants of the Price Falls area.

STUDY AREA

The Arbuckle Mountain range is located in the Grand Prarie and Cross Timbers major land resource area. The range is characterized by many natural springs, shallow streams, large river valleys, rolling limestone hills, travertine rock formations, and occasional perpendicular limestone cliffs. The Price Falls sampling area (0.44 acre) is composed of or neighbors all of these traits. The dominate soil type on the fall area is Chigley-Travertine; a well drained loamy soil that as formed in clayey material. It originated from weathered Conglomerate rock, Colluvium rock, shale, or siltstone. They are moderately alkaline to alkaline. The rock complex is dominantly limestone with slopes ranging from 0 to 90 degrees (Watterson et al., 84).

The average temperature for Murray county in the winter is 42 degrees Fahrenheit with an average daily maximum low of 30 degrees Fahrenheit. For the summer, the average temperature is 85 degrees Fahrenheit with a average maximum daily high of 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Total annual precipitation is 38 inches. Growing season is when 60 percent of this precipitation falls, April through September (Watterson et al., 84).

METHODS

Three trips were made to the fall area in monthly intervals. These dates were September 1, 30, and October 28 all in the year of 1995. The objective for each trip was to collect species from each of the seven sub-divisions the falls and surrounding areas were divided into. Identical species found in separate areas were collected to determine species abundance and apparent habitat. Both native and introduced taxa were collected. Several plants were not collected due to health reasons (Poison Ivy, Prickly Pear). Specimens were then pressed on site or field notes were made about present appearance and pressed later. The fragility of the areas surveyed was taken into consideration and no over collecting was conducted.

Identifications were made from Keys to the Flora of Oklahoma by U.T. Waterfall (1979), Forest Trees of Oklahoma by Elbert L. Little Jr. (1991), Flora of North America by the Flora of North America Editorial Committee (1993), An Annotated List of the Ferns, Fern Allies, Gymnosperms, and Flowering Plants of Oklahoma by R. John Taylor and Constance E. S. Taylor (1991), and Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas by Donovan Correll and Marshall Johnston (1970).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION


Floristic Summary

Based on the 284 collections made during this study, the known vascular flora of the Price Falls sampling area consists of 103 species and non-specific taxa within 81 genera and 42 families; 9 species are non-native. A statistical summary is given in Table 1 and an annotated list is included. (See addendum)

Two families, Poaceae (Gramineae) and Asteraceae (Compositae), make up almost a third of the flora with Poaceae at 18 species and Asteraceae at 14 species. Other large families include Fagaceae and Ulmaceae (6 each), and Apiaceae (4). The largest genus is Quercus (5 taxa), followed by Aster, Carya, Celtis, Panicum, Rhus, and Solidago (3 each).

Communities

There are three different plant communities at Price Falls. These communities are subdivided into smaller, more defined communities for simpler ways of collection. The communities are subjectively defined below and based on observation.

1. Creek bed.- This area is composed of: (1) small "islands" that have been disconnected with the main creek bank by many small streamlets that have been separated by the falls, and (2) the main creek bank. These areas are occasionally flooded by Falls Creek, but not by the neighboring Washita River because the area is upland from the river. This community was subdivided into two smaller areas; above falls and below falls.

2. Limestone hillside.- Four smaller sub-communities form the limestone hillside that is located across the one- way, one-lane lower road that comes out of the Falls Creek Baptist Youth Assembly. The four sub-communities are labeled as; (1) cliff- a large limestone rock face that ranges in height from two to five meters and its surroundings, (2) 1st 15- starting at the beginning of the canopy and the end of the cliff area, this is the first 15 meters of limestone hillside that slopes downward at a 45 degree angle, (3) 2nd 15- the second 15 meters down the hillside, and (4) 3rd 15- the third 15 meters down the hillside. The last 15 meters were not surveyed due to the closeness of the highway and abundance of disturbed (the area was frequently mowed down) plant life.

3. Travertine rock face.- This plant community was also called "on the falls". It was found on the travertine cliff, measuring 6 meters in height, that Falls Creek flows off of.

These communities are listed in the annotated list under the taxa that was found in them. Table 1.
Summary of the Price Falls Flora (Joyner et al.,94) Species and Lesser Taxa
Families Genera Native Introduced Total
Pteridophytes 4 7 7 - 7
Gymnosperms 1 1 2 - 2
Angiosperms - - - - -
Momocots 3 18 17 5 22
Dicots 34 55 68 4 72
Totals 42 81 94 9 103

CONCLUSION

The objective of this study was to conduct a floristic survey of the vascular plants of Price Falls. In concluding the study, my sampling area was found to contain 42 families, 81 genera, and 103 individual species. This is an incredible diversity for such a small area (0.44 acre). The immense variety of ferns for an area less than half an acre proves how botanically rich this site is. Keeping this area and other areas like this one from commercialization and pollution depends greatly on the owner, but the responsibility is still ours to push for the preservation of these rare and magnificent places of Oklahoma.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my family for outstanding patience, Mrs. Courkamp and the G/T class for assistance and entertainment in long hours, and Mr. Smith for giving his all and them some.

Bibliography

ANNOTATED CATALOG

The catalog is divided into major groups: Pteridophyta (ferns and fern allies), Gymnosperms (non-flowering seed plants), and Angiospermae (flowering plants), which are subdivided into the Monocotylodonae and the Dicotyledonae. Within each group, families, genera, and species are arranged alphabetically. Non-native taxa are indicated by an asterisk. Common name of species is given next, followed by community type(s) where the taxon occurs. Subjective observations of abundance is given fourth based on the following scheme:

Collection numbers are stated last.