Name:
Pinus echinata - Quercus (marilandica, stellata) / Schizachyrium scoparium - Silphium terebinthinaceum - Oligoneuron album Woodland
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This mixed evergreen - deciduous sparse forest association consists of prairie-like woodlands occurring over stiff calcareous clay soils derived from weathered shale and limestone of the Conasauga Group. It ranges along the Coosa River Valley in northwestern Georgia and into northeastern Alabama. Pristine examples are difficult to locate, as much of the habitat for this association has been converted to agriculture or silviculture, and many remaining examples include a significant component of Pinus taeda. Most surviving stands occur as woodland vegetation surrounding small prairie like openings containing disjunct Midwestern grassland species and narrow endemics such as Marshallia mohrii and Helianthus verticillatus [see CEGL004757 and CEGL004045 in reference to closely related herbaceous-dominated prairie openings]. The canopy is open and includes nearly an even mixture of Pinus echinata and Pinus taeda with Quercus marilandica and Quercus stellata comprising the sparse subcanopy and understory. Examples in the southern portion of the range in Alabama may include Pinus palustris as a minor component of the canopy. Some examples include Quercus phellos and Quercus alba. The shrub layer tends to also be minimally developed with Crataegus spathulata, Crataegus marshallii, Vaccinium arboreum, Diospyros virginiana, and Vaccinium stamineum as typical components. The herbaceous layer is well-developed with prairie-affiliated grasses such as Andropogon gerardii, Schizachyrium scoparium, and Sorghastrum nutans as dominants. Panicum virgatum, Gymnopogon ambiguus, and Sporobolus clandestinus are also important grass species found within these woodlands. A wide variety of forbs, many of these either disjunct or prairie species near their southeastern limit are codominant in the herbaceous layer. Examples of such species include Oligoneuron album, Oligoneuron rigidum, Silphium terebinthinaceum, Helianthus mollis, Symphyotrichum pratense (= Aster sericeus var. microphyllus), and Silphium radula. Other herbaceous species that characterize this association would be Liatris aspera, Parthenium integrifolium, Silphium trifoliatum var. latifolium, Liatris squarrosa var. hirsuta, Symphyotrichum laeve var. concinnum, Eurybia hemispherica, Helianthus atrorubens, Marshallia obovata, Ionactis linariifolius, Solidago nemoralis, Helianthus hirsutus, Tephrosia virginiana, Sericocarpus asteroides, Eryngium yuccifolium, Aureolaria pectinata, Asclepias hirtella, Cirsium carolinianum, Rudbeckia fulgida, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, Baptisia bracteata, Gaura filipes, and Pityopsis aspera var. adenolepis.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28358.PINUSECHINATAQU
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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