Name:
Rhododendron (maximum, catawbiense) - Ilex collina - Salix sericea / Carex trisperma - Eriophorum virginicum Shrubland
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This community includes non-alluvial, wetland vegetation at very high elevations (4000-4900 feet; 1250-1490 m) in the southern Appalachian mountains. This palustrine shrubland is known to occur over amphibolite (a mafic metamorphic rock) and over rhyolite (a felsic igneous rock), on slight to fairly steep slopes (1-15%), is slightly to strongly seepage-fed, and generally has shallow soils over bedrock. Examples are structurally variable, but usually have greater than 25% shrub cover (ranges to 100%). The vegetation generally consists of a mosaic of shrub thickets and small herb-dominated areas, much of it underlain by Sphagnum mats. Sphagnum coverage is 50-100%. Trees such as Picea rubens, Abies fraseri, Pinus strobus, and Tsuga canadensis may be scattered throughout or may dominate in patches or on the edges. Dominant shrubs include Salix sericea, Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides, Ilex collina, Rhododendron catawbiense, and Rhododendron maximum. Other characteristic species include Taxus canadensis (Long Hope Valley only), Picea rubens, Rosa palustris, Salix humilis, Carex atlantica, Carex baileyi, Carex echinata, Carex gynandra, Carex leptalea, Carex lurida, Carex trisperma, Eriophorum virginicum, Galium asprellum, Houstonia serpyllifolia, Juncus effusus, Osmunda cinnamomea, Oxypolis rigidior, Rhynchospora capitellata, Scirpus cyperinus, Scirpus expansus, Scirpus polyphyllus, Packera aurea (= Senecio aureus), Solidago patula var. patula, Sphagnum fuscum, Sphagnum recurvum, and Rhizomnium appalachianum. This type is known only from the valley of Long Hope Creek, Ashe and Watauga counties, North Carolina, where about 20 examples occur, and from Mount Rogers, Grayson County, Virginia.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28372.RHODODENDRONMAX
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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