''Geobalanus oblongifolius'', commonly known as gopher apple, is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

. It grows in the

sandhill A sandhill is a type of ecological community or xeric wildfire-maintained ecosystem. It is not the same as a sand dune. It features very short fire return intervals, one to five years. Without fire, sandhills undergo ecological succession and b ...

s of

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

as well as coastal

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The fruit is a food source for the

gopher tortoise The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide she ...

and many other species of wildlife. It was originally published as ''Licania michauxii'' by British botanist G.T. Prance in J. Arnold Arbor. vol. 51 on page 526 in 1970. It was renamed as ''Geobalanus oblongifolius'' by (Michx.)

Small Small means of insignificant size Size in general is the Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to three geometrical measures: length, area, or ...

and re-published in Fl. Miami: 81 (1913). Although it is still known by its former name in some sources.

Gallery

File:Geobalanus_oblongifolius_-_Colony,_Carter_Creek,_May_2025.jpg, Subpopulation on sandhill at Carter Creek WMA File:Geobalanus_oblongifolius_-_Buds_closeup,_St_Petersburg_FL,_April_2025.jpg, Sprouting buds File:Geobalanus_oblongifolius_-_thriving_under_pines,_Palm_Harbor_FL,_May_2025.jpg, Subpopulation at base of pines File:Geobalanus_oblongifolius_-_White_sand,_Palm_Harbor,_April_2025.jpg, Growing in deep, white sands

References

Other sources

* Prance, G. T. 1972. Chrysobalanaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 9:42-43. * Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the vascular plants of Florida Chrysobalanaceae Plants described in 1970 Flora of Florida {{Malpighiales-stub