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Acer rubrum var. rubrum - Betula (alleghaniensis, lenta) - Magnolia fraseri / (Rhododendron maximum, Kalmia latifolia) Forest | Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
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Name: Acer rubrum var. rubrum - Betula (alleghaniensis, lenta) - Magnolia fraseri / (Rhododendron maximum, Kalmia latifolia) Forest
Reference: Southeastern Ecology Working Gro...
Description: This association includes submesic, potentially fire-exposed or heavily logged, mid and upper slopes in the Southern Appalachians north to the Cumberlands. Canopy dominance may be shared by a number of species, including <i>Acer rubrum var. rubrum, Carya glabra, Magnolia fraseri, Halesia tetraptera var. monticola, Nyssa sylvatica, Betula alleghaniensis var. alleghaniensis, Betula lenta, Oxydendrum arboreum</i>, and <i>Tsuga canadensis</i>, but the community's most distinctive character is the relative lack of dominance by any one species and the lack of oak species in the canopy. This community may occasionally be dominated by <i>Betula lenta</i> and/or <i>Betula alleghaniensis</i> with an extremely dense understory of <i>Rhododendron maximum</i>; it may intergrade with acidic cove forests farther downslope. The understory shrub layer is composed of a combination of <i>Kalmia latifolia</i> and <i>Rhododendron maximum</i>, though the cover is not consistently 100%. The proportion of <i>Kalmia</i> to <i>Rhododendron</i> varies widely through this association, with more xeric sites having a higher concentration of <i>Kalmia latifolia</i> than <i>Rhododendron maximum</i>. In addition, drier versions of this association tend to contain abundant <i>Sassafras albidum</i> in the understory, whereas the more mesic versions have lower densities of <i>Sassafras albidum</i>. The herb layer is generally sparse but may sometimes be dominated by a dense cover of ferns such as <i>Dennstaedtia punctilobula</i> or <i>Dryopteris marginalis</i>. 
Accession Code: VB.CC.36331.CEGL008558
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:   Common: Southern Appalachian Acidic Mixed Hardwood Forest
  Translated: Red Maple - (Yellow Birch, Sweet Birch) - Mountain Magnolia / (Great Laurel, Mountain Laurel) Forest
  Scientific: Acer rubrum var. rubrum - Betula (alleghaniensis, lenta) - Magnolia fraseri / (Rhododendron maximum, Kalmia latifolia) Forest
  Code: CEGL008558
  UID: ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.687321 NatureServe ExplorerNatureServe Explorer logo