releve Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh_plotform_instructions.pdf
Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Stem Observation Area
400
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
33
m
Shrub Height
6
m
Field Height
5
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
90
%
Nonvascular Cover
1
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This lower slope of a dolomitic knob along Clinch River supports one of the "richest" forest communities sampled in Virginia, with breathtaking floristic variation and lushness in the herb layer. The forest is an older second-growth stand in which Liriodendron tulipifera, Carya cordiformis, and (outside the plot) Fraxinus americana are overstory dominants, and Acer nigrum and A. saccharum constitute much of the sub-canopy. Lindera benzoin is the most important species in an open shrub layer. Except where broken by exposed boulders, herb cover is nearly 100% and stratified into several layers of tall, mid-height, and low-growing species. Variable patch-dominance by a dozen or more nutrient-demanding species is characteristic. In the vicinity of the plot, these include Synandra hispidula, Hydrophyllum canadense, Laportea canadensis, Jeffersonia diphylla, Maianthemum racemosum, Trillium sulcatum, Delphinium tricorne, Osmorhiza claytonii, and Caulophyllum thalictroides. Patches of Cystopteris bulbifera are common on around boulder streams.