Name:
Rhododendron (maximum, catawbiense) - Ilex collina - Salix sericea / Eriophorum virginicum Seepage Shrubland
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community includes non-alluvial, wetland vegetation at very high elevations (1170-1490 m [3850-4900 feet]) in the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is known only from the valley of Long Hope Creek, Ashe and Watauga counties, North Carolina, where about 20 examples occur, and from Mount Rogers, Grayson County, Virginia. This palustrine shrubland is known to occur over amphibolite (a mafic metamorphic rock) and over rhyolite (a felsic igneous rock), on slight to fairly steep slopes (1-15%), is slightly to strongly seepage-fed, and generally has shallow soils over bedrock. Examples are structurally variable, but usually have greater than 25% shrub cover (ranges to 100%). The vegetation generally consists of a mosaic of shrub thickets and small herb-dominated areas, much of it underlain by <i>Sphagnum</i> mats. <i>Sphagnum</i> coverage is 50-100%. Trees such as <i>Picea rubens, Abies fraseri, Pinus strobus</i>, and <i>Tsuga canadensis</i> may be scattered throughout or may dominate in patches or on the edges. Dominant shrubs include <i>Salix sericea, Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides, Ilex collina, Rhododendron catawbiense</i>, and <i>Rhododendron maximum</i>. Other characteristic species include <i>Taxus canadensis</i> (Long Hope Valley only), <i>Picea rubens, Rosa palustris, Salix humilis, Carex atlantica, Carex baileyi, Carex echinata, Carex gynandra, Carex leptalea, Carex lurida, Carex trisperma, Eriophorum virginicum, Galium asprellum, Houstonia serpyllifolia, Juncus effusus, Osmunda cinnamomea, Oxypolis rigidior, Rhynchospora capitellata, Scirpus cyperinus, Scirpus expansus, Scirpus polyphyllus, Packera aurea, Solidago patula var. patula, Sphagnum fuscum, Sphagnum recurvum</i>, and <i>Rhizomnium appalachianum</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:32769-{55A32225-EEF2-487A-92E0-908B326103CC}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
15
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