Disjunct Populations  BVP
May 29, 2003 2:56 PM

Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2003 2:56 PM
To: ENTS
Subject: Ostrya et al.

All,
With the formation of the Great Plains during the mid-Tertiary, many groups of plants and animals were separated by the Gulf of Mexico, ending up with isolated populations. Several tree species common to the Eastern US have disjunct populations in east-central or southern Mexico, including:

Acer negundo
Cercis canadensis
Cornus florida
Fagus grandifolia
Liquidambar styraciflua
Ostrya virginiana
Pinus strobus
Platanus occidentalis
Prunus serotina

Besides Ostrya getting quite large in these southern outliers, the dogwood does as well - and is evergreen!

Cheers,
- BVP

Bob:

Fascinating. Beyond Ostrya , how do the size of other species in these disjunct populations generally compare with their northern counterparts? Would we go hog-wild over a Mexican Liquidambar styraciflua? If sweetgum can reach 160+ feet in places like Congaree (potentially), how much better can it do in Mexico? Is it mainly the slower growing species that get to noticeably larger sizes in the more southern climes?

Bob