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
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Field Height
1
m
Tree Cover
50
%
Shrub Cover
30
%
Field Cover
30
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This shale barren is in the Massanutten Mountains and is somewhat different from barrens found farther west in the Ridge and Valley proper. The absence of Eriogonum allenii and endemic Clematis spp. is hard to explain, though the Eriogonum occurs nearby. Soils may be slightly more fertile than usual, as suggested by Cunila origanoides, Antennaria plantaginifolia, Helianthus divaricatus, Clematis viorna, Cercis canadensis, Galium pilosum, Oxalis grandis, etc.; hence the community is classified as "submesotrophic woodland." The prevalence of Quercus stellata is somewhat unusual.
Pinus virginiana in plot measured @ 24 cm dbh. Shale outcrops lower on the slope support Opuntia humifusa and Selaginella rupestris.
Plot located on upper part of slope just west of Rt. 678, at a point 1.2 mi southwest of Elizabeth Furnace Campground and just southwest of driveway to Potomac Appalachian Trail Club "Glass House."