lib. Prose Description of Site Significance: 



The Pettigrew State Park natural areas described in this re- 

 port contain unique community types unknown elsewhere in North 

 Carolina. The Baldcypress/pawpaw/mixed herbs community (CT 1) 

 along the north shore is highly significant for several reasons. 

 It contains some of the largest trees known from the entire 

 Pamlimarle Peninsula, both in terms of overall height (many 

 trees are in excess of 100 feet) and in trunk diameter (average 

 dbh is about 50 inches) . There are no other stands known in 

 Washington County which compare in age and stature. The pre- 

 sence of pawpaw as a dominant shrub species in association 

 with cypress is not known to occur elsewhere in the state. 

 Pawpaw is more typical of stream and river floodplains of the 

 piedmont and upper coastal plain and is relatively rare in the 

 outer coastal plain region of the state. 



The Maidencane-mixed aquatic herbs freshwater marsh com- 

 munity (CT 2) along the south shore of the lake is also unique 

 in North Carolina. No other freshwater marshes are known which 

 contain this assortment of emergent and submergent species. 

 The freshwater marsh community also contains a species of 

 water milfoil , Myriophyllum tenellum , which is not known any- 

 where else in the state and which reaches its southernmost 

 occurrence here. It is more typical of marshes in the Canadian 

 Maritime Provinces and the New England states. Also present 

 are two other plants considered to be significantly rare in 

 the state - Eriocaulon pellucidum , and Sagittaria sp. ( teres 

 or isoetiformis ) . Both species are known from only a few 

 scattered localities in North Carolina. 



Also present within the lake itself and probably dependent 

 on the marsh community for feeding/breeding habitat is a state 

 endangered endemic fish, the Waccamaw Killifish. This species 

 is known to occur in the world only in Lakes Waccamaw and Phelps 

 (Cooper et_ al_, 1977) . 



Lake Phelps is the second largest natural lake in North 

 Carolina. The natural areas along its northern and southern 

 shores contain unique plant communities and rare species which 

 are of statewide significance and represent remnants of two 

 lake shore ecosystems which are integral parts of the overall 

 Lake Phelps biological systems. 



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