Name:
Central Midwest-Interior Sandstone Moist Cliff Vegetation
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This moist sandstone cliff community is found throughout the central midwestern and interior regions of the United States and southern Ontario, Canada. Stands occur as steep to vertical rock exposures of sandstone bedrock. Aspect is variable, but stands are best developed on north- and east-facing slopes, or under sandstone overhangs. Vegetation is restricted to shelves, cracks and crevices in the rock, generally averaging less than 20%, and often dominated by forbs and ferns, with mats of mosses and lichens. In the Ozarks and Interior Low Plateau, the herbaceous layer contains the forbs <i>Dicentra canadensis, Dodecatheon frenchii, Heuchera parviflora, Triadenum walteri, Mitchella repens, Mitella diphylla</i>, among others, and the ferns <i>Athyrium filix-femina, Cystopteris bulbifera, Osmunda cinnamomea, Osmunda regalis</i>, and <i>Trichomanes boschianum</i>. In the Allegheny region of Ohio, the sandstone cliffs include the forbs <i>Agrostis perennans, Aquilegia canadensis, Mitchella repens</i>, and <i>Viola blanda</i>, and the ferns <i>Asplenium montanum, Asplenium pinnatifidum, Asplenium rhizophyllum, Asplenium trichomanes, Cystopteris fragilis, Dennstaedtia punctilobula, Dryopteris intermedia, Dryopteris marginalis, Polypodium virginianum</i>, and the rare <i>Asplenium bradleyi</i>. In Minnesota and Wisconsin the moist cliffs include forbs, such as <i>Aralia nudicaulis, Asarum canadense</i> and <i>Mitella diphylla</i>, and the ferns <i>Cystopteris bulbifera</i> and <i>Cystopteris fragilis</i>. The nonvascular layer is poorly described. Seepage areas in Minnesota include <i>Sullivantia sullivantii</i> (also found in Missouri) and <i>Cryptogramma stelleri</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:31196-{3982EC67-18CA-4309-8994-73BEAE9E763B}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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