Name:
Kalmia latifolia - Gaylussacia (baccata, brachycera) Cumberland Shrubland
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This sandstone glade-related heath shrub-dominated community occurs on sandstone bedrock exposures in the Cumberlands of Kentucky and Virginia (and possibly adjacent Tennessee) at moderate elevations. The vegetation at these sites is low in stature. The tallest shrub is Vaccinium arboreum and it seldom is over 2 m in height. Scrubby trees, usually Quercus coccinea and Quercus falcata (and/or sometimes Quercus velutina, Quercus marilandica, or Quercus stellata), as well as Pinus rigida, Pinus virginiana are seldom are over 3 m. The tree species are dispersed on the landscape with small crowns and little cover. The dominant shrubs are Kalmia latifolia (low to the ground, around 0.6 m or less high), Gaylussacia baccata and/or Vaccinium pallidum. On many, but not all sites, Gaylussacia brachycera is the most dominant low-shrub species. Sometimes Vaccinium stamineum occurs as well. In the most open areas, Epigaea repens, Gaultheria procumbens, Danthonia spicata, Cladonia spp., and in moist pockets, Dicranum scoparium are often dominant. Occasionally Croton willdenowii (= Crotonopsis elliptica) and Talinum teretifolium occur in the open (nearly rock, thin soil, no shrub) areas. These areas grade into oak-pine or pine-oak woodland with an ericaceous shrub layer (Kalmia latifolia, Vaccinium arboreum / Vaccinium stamineum / Vaccinium pallidum, Gaylussacia baccata / Gaylussacia brachycera). Here the Kalmia is 1-2 m high and the sites are somewhat difficult to traverse. These woodlands in turn grade into oak-pine or pine/oak forest, either with a Kalmia / Vaccinium / Gaylussacia layer or more or less leaf litter. This community lacks many of the characteristic southern Appalachian species found in Appalachian heath balds such as Rhododendron carolinianum, Rhododendron catawbiense, Rhododendron calendulaceum, Leucothoe recurva, Pieris floribunda, and Leiophyllum buxifolium. This association also lacks species of northern affinity (e.g., Nemopanthus mucronatus, Vaccinium angustifolium, Lycopodium annotinum, Carex polymorpha, and Oryzopsis asperifolia), which are found in related vegetation of the Central Appalachians which is dominated by Kalmia latifolia and Gaylussacia baccata.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.22640.KALMIALATIFOLIA
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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