It is slow growing with soft, light-colored (varies in color from cream to carmine), fine-grained wood of little commercial value, although loblolly-bay could be managed as a source of pulpwood.

Dead adult specimens of loblolly bay exhibit a lustrous shine when exposed to sunlight for several years.

The white showy flowers and shiny foliage make it a desirable ornamental, but it is not easy to cultivate.

Approximately 53 percent of the annual precipitation occurs during the months of June, July, August, September, and October.

In North and South Carolina, loblolly-bay is apparently very soil-specific even though it is found on several soil series.

Soil profiles of a loblolly-bay site in South Carolina have the following general characteristics at various soil horizons: Loblolly-bay grows in flat woodlands or shallow depressions with little or no slope, slow runoff, rapid permeability, and poor to very poor drainage.

In the upper and middle Coastal Plain, it is found mainly along the edges of Carolina Bays and is widely dispersed in wet, flat woodlands on certain soil types.

Pondcypress (Society of American Foresters Type 100) is found in certain Carolina Bays with ponded water.

borbonia) in the overstory and fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), inkberry (Ilex glabra), and greenbrier (Smilax spp.)

In the middle Coastal Plain of South Carolina, loblolly-bay is found with loblolly pine, water oak (Quercus nigra), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), American holly (Ilex opaca), redbay, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), and yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera).

Loblolly-bay, pond pine, sweetbay, and redbay are the tree species present, and they rarely form a closed canopy.

Sweetbay-Swamp Tupelo-Redbay (Type 104) is the "broadleaf evergreen forest" of the lower Coastal Plain of North and South Carolina.

Loblolly-bay is a minor component in the overstory along with red maple (Acer rubrum), black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var.

The information of this section is based on measurements and observations made in the northern Coastal Plain of South Carolina.

Older seedlings have only been observed where the mineral soil has been disturbed such as in recently plowed fire lines.

Numerous root-collar sprouts are produced when the trees are killed by fire (9) or if the root system is mechanically damaged by a logging or disking operation.

However, if loblolly-bay is overtopped, older trees will lose their characteristic conical shape and the crown will break up.

The thin bark and shallow root system of loblolly-bay probably contribute to its low fire tolerance.

In the Southeast, loblolly-bay is considered a handsome and hardy tree valued for its glossy dark-green leaves and abundant white flowers.

Because of its ability to grow in wet bogs and flats where loblolly pine does poorly, loblolly-bay silviculture may offer a management alternative for such areas.

This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government Gresham, Charles A.; Lipscomb, Donald J.