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Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation | Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
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Name: Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation
Reference: Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description: This community is known only from the northern Virginia Blue Ridge and possibly the higher adjacent foothills, in areas underlain by Catoctin metabasalt (greenstone) and Middle Proterozoic plutonic rocks. Sites are located on steep (up to 37°), xeric, middle-elevation slopes where exposed outcrops effectively limit the establishment and normal development of trees. Underlying bedrock at most sites is metabasalt (greenstone). Three documented sites are underlain by charnockite, a pyroxene-bearing granitic rock, and it is likely that additional stands occur on this and related plutonic formations. Elevation of plot-sampled stands ranges from 543 to 1050 m (1782-3450 feet), with a mean of 835 m (2740 feet). Middle-slope topographic positions are typical, with slopes convex in at least one direction. Aspect varies from southeast to northwest, with westerly aspects prevalent. This vegetation type is dominated by herbaceous plants with scattered shrub patches and stunted trees. The herb layer usually ranges from 25-60% total cover (occasionally higher or lower), and from scattered to locally dense where soil and organic matter have accumulated. <i>Carex pensylvanica</i> and <i>Schizachyrium scoparium</i> are consistently dominant herbs. <i>Phacelia dubia</i> is an abundant spring ephemeral in about two-thirds of the plots, and this species may have been missed in late-season sampling of other plots. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.34968.CEGL008529
Plot-observations of this Community Concept: 0
      Party Perspective according to: NatureServe (organization)
Perspective from: 17-Nov-2014 to: 01-May-2019
     
  • status: accepted
  • This Community's Level: association
  • This Community's Children: [none]
Names:   UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.688917 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo
  Common: Central Appalachian Mafic Barrens (Ninebark / Pennsylvania Sedge Type)
  Translated: White Ash / Common Ninebark / Pennsylvania Sedge - Nodding Onion - (Small-flower Phacelia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation
  Scientific: Fraxinus americana / Physocarpus opulifolius / Carex pensylvanica - Allium cernuum - (Phacelia dubia) Wooded Herbaceous Vegetation
  Code: CEGL008529