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Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation [Provisional] | Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
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Name: Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation [Provisional]
Reference: Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description: This community is known only from the northern Virginia Blue Ridge and possibly the higher adjacent foothills, in areas underlain by Catoctin metabasalt (greenstone) and Middle Proterozoic plutonic rocks. Sites are located on steep (up to 37 degrees), xeric, middle-elevation slopes where exposed outcrops effectively limit the establishment and normal development of trees. Underlying bedrock at most sites is metabasalt (greenstone). Two documented sites are underlain by charnockite, a pyroxene-bearing granitic rock, and it is likely that additional stands occur on this and related plutonic formations. Elevation of plot-sampled stands ranges from 543-1049 m (1782-3442 feet), with a mean of 835 m (2740 feet). Middle-slope topographic positions are typical, with slopes convex in at least one direction. Aspect varies from southeast to northwest, with westerly aspects prevalent. This vegetation type is dominated by herbaceous plants with scattered shrub patches and stunted trees. The herb layer usually ranges from 25-60% total cover (occasionally higher or lower), and from scattered to locally dense where soil and organic matter have accumulated. Carex pensylvanica and Schizachyrium scoparium are consistently dominant herbs. Phacelia dubia is an abundant spring ephemeral in about two-thirds of the plots, and this species may have been missed in late-season sampling of other plots. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.26130.FRAXINUSAMERICA
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 09-Aug-2004 to: 17-Nov-2014
      Names:   Translated: White Ash / Eastern Ninebark / Pennsylvania Sedge - Nodding Onion - (Small-flower Scorpionweed) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation
  UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688917 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Code: CEGL008529
  Scientific: Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation
  Common: Central Appalachian Mafic Barren (Ninebark / Pennsylvania Sedge Type)
(convergence) and Synonyms:
(undetermined) Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation