Name:
Quercus rubra - Quercus alba - Fraxinus americana - Carya (ovata, ovalis) / Actaea racemosa Forest
Reference:
Fleming, G. P., and P. P. Coulli...
Description:
This community type is known primarily from the northern Blue Ridge, where it occupies extensive areas on upper slopes and ridge crests underlain by mafic parent material. Additional, outlying occurrences have been documented from the northern part of the southern Blue Ridge and two sites in the western Ridge and Valley. This community type occurs under two rather different sets of site conditions. In the Blue Ridge stands occupy gentle to moderately steep, upper slopes and ridge crests, over Catoctin metabasalt (greenstone) or, in the southern Blue Ridge occurrences, amphibolite. Occurrences span a broad range of elevations, from 800-1160 m (2650-3820 feet). Aspect varies considerably, but a majority of stands are located on sites with southwestern to northwestern exposures. In the Ridge and Valley, mesic, low-relief crests are underlain by clastic sedimentary and metasedimentary parent material, comprising sandstone, siltstone, shale and quartzite. Quercus rubra is the single constant member of the overstory. It often shares dominance with Quercus alba and Fraxinus americana, but both of these species, while present in nearly all stands, are occasionally confined to the understory. Carya spp. are virtually absent from the Ridge and Valley stands, but either Carya ovalis or Carya ovata (and frequently both) typically attain importance in the canopy or subcanopy in the Blue Ridge. Associate tree species include Betula lenta, Carya cordiformis, Prunus serotina, Acer rubrum, Quercus prinus, and Tilia americana. The shrub layer is typically sparse. A consistent feature is a lush and generally diverse herb layer, although the species richness of the Blue Ridge stands is more than twice that of the Ridge and Valley occurrences.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.26924.QUERCUSRUBRAQUE
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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