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
18
m
Shrub Height
5
m
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
75
%
Shrub Cover
70
%
Field Cover
65
%
Nonvascular Cover
18
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
An open, somewhat stunted oak-hickory forest on the south slope of Mount Pony, a diabase monadnock in the northern Piedmont Culpeper (Triassic) Basin. Soils at this site are very rocky and notably high in calcium, magnesium, and manganese. Quercus stellata and Carya glabra are the most abundant trees in this part of the stand, although the latter is primarily in the sub-canopy. Also present are Quercus alba, Q. rubra, Q. montana, Carya ovalis, C. alba, and Fraxinus americana. Cercis canadensis and Rhus aromatica are abundant shrubs. The herb flora contains a diveresity of dry-site graminoids (e.g., Piptochaetium avenaceum, Danthonia spicata) and forbs (e.g., Solidago ulmifolia, Pycnanthemum incanum).