Name:
Quercus phellos - Quercus (palustris, lyrata) / Ilex decidua / Carex typhina - (Carex grayi) Forest
Reference:
NatureServeExplorer 9/14/2010
Description:
This swamp forest ranges from the Piedmont and adjacent inner Coastal Plain of central Virginia south through the Piedmont into north-central North Carolina. It occupies somewhat poorly drained to very poorly drained floodplains of large streams and small rivers. Typical habitats include shallow sloughs, low flat terraces, and backswamps. Hydrologic regime can be somewhat ambiguous, but is probably best characterized as seasonally flooded. Flooding is typically fairly shallow (<30 cm). Soils examined at plots had silt and silty-clay loam horizons grading to sticky clay, white- or orange-mottled subsoils. Samples were uniformly strongly acidic, but some had moderately high calcium, magnesium, and base saturation levels. Relatively undisturbed stands have a strong oak component, with Quercus phellos (most constant), Quercus palustris, Quercus lyrata, and Quercus michauxii sharing dominance in variable combinations. Quercus pagoda and Quercus bicolor also occur but are infrequent and local. Fraxinus pennsylvanica and Liquidambar styraciflua are constant, sometimes codominant overstory associates. Ilex decidua is the most constant shrub dominant, with Carpinus caroliniana and Viburnum prunifolium codominant in some areas. The herb layer is usually dense and characterized by patch-dominance of sedges and other graminoids, including Carex typhina, Carex grayi, Carex tribuloides, Carex radiata, Carex intumescens, Leersia virginica, Poa autumnalis, Glyceria striata, and Cinna arundinacea. Characteristic forbs include Boehmeria cylindrica, Impatiens capensis, Lysimachia ciliata, Lycopus virginicus, Commelina virginica, and Saururus cernuus. Spring ephemerals such as Cardamine bulbosa, Cardamine douglassii, and Claytonia virginica are sometimes abundant on hummocks and other better drained microhabitats. Invasive weeds, especially Lysimachia nummularia, are often problematic in this community type.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:cvs.bio.unc.edu:commConcept:28541-{933AC4BF-84BF-4AC4-B7B1-091EA5F45114}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
2
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