Name:
Taxodium ascendens / (Nyssa biflora) / Leucothoe racemosa - Lyonia lucida - Morella cerifera Depression Forest
Reference:
Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description:
This forested community occurs in poorly drained to permanently wet depressions surrounded by upland or saturated wetland communities, primarily pine flatwoods, but it rarely can occur in floodplain depressions of blackwater rivers (i.e., Styx River, Baldwin County, Alabama). Examples often have a characteristic dome-shaped appearance resulting from the largest, highest trees occurring in the center with smaller trees around the margins. It occurs in peaty depressions on the Coastal Plain from North Carolina and South Carolina through Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi to eastern Louisiana. This community occurs on acidic sand overlain by an organic layer. Size ranges from one to several hundred acres. Taxodium ascendens is the most conspicuous tree in the canopy; Pinus elliottii var. elliottii can sometimes be present or codominant. Nyssa biflora frequently occurs in the subcanopy but may occur as a canopy species. Shrubs occur on hummocks which form around cypress buttresses and knees. This stratum may be made up of one or several species of Leucothoe racemosa, Cyrilla racemiflora, Itea virginica, Lyonia lucida, Litsea aestivalis, Hypericum fasciculatum, Clethra alnifolia, Morella cerifera (= Myrica cerifera), Ilex cassine, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Persea palustris, and more. Shrubs form a distinct understory with increasing distance from the center depression. Carex spp. and Sphagnum spp. occur on the thin, peaty muck. Other ground cover is scattered on hummocks, and includes Woodwardia virginica, Saururus cernuus, and Lachnanthes caroliana. Density increases with proximity to the community's edge. Pieris phillyreifolia, an epiphytic shrub-vine may occur on the Taxodium ascendens trees, and Tillandsia usneoides, are often abundant in some parts of the range.
Accession Code:
VB.CC.28374.TAXODIUMASCENDE
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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