BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Ceratiola ericoides | Rosemary 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Rosemary is a native, evergreen, dioecious, needle-leaved shrub that
grows to about 8 feet (2.5 m) tall.  It has bushy branches and a
distinct, erect form.  The slender stems are straight, and the small
leaves are alternate or whorled on the twigs.  The buds are at the stem
tips.  The very small sessile flowers are borne along the twigs at the
base of the leaf axils.  The fruit is a juicy yellow drupe containing
two seeds [2,7,22].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Rosemary is a prolific seed producer; the literature suggests that
regeneration from seed is its only mode of reproduction.  Seed
production begins at 15 to 20 years, peaks at 25 to 30 years, and then
declines.  The seed is dispersed by several species of birds; it passes
through their digestive tracts unharmed.  Many seeds are lost to mice
and insect predation [21,22,28].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Rosemary commonly occurs in scrub oak woods, dry open pinelands, and
stable dunes in the southeastern United States.  It grows on
well-drained to excessively drained, infertile, acid to strongly acid
sandy soils of the order Entisols.  The soils are made of quartz sands,
white to grayish with very little clay, silt of humus mixture, and no
horizon development.  Rosemary often forms pure stands on the slightly
higher elevations which are surrounded by scrubby flatwoods [3,6,24].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Obligate Initial Community Species

Rosemary is a pioneer species.  When there is a disturbance from a tree
falling, a road, or a fire, rosemary seedlings appear.  As the site
matures, the oaks and palmettos begin to shade out rosemary [3,14].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Rosemary flowers from early spring to early summer.  The fruit ripens in
the late summer and the seed is dispersed in the late fall [8,28].

Related categories for Species: Ceratiola ericoides | Rosemary