Name:
Quercus alba - Quercus velutina - Quercus stellata / Schizachyrium scoparium - Desmodium spp. Woodland
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This is a fire-maintained woodland of the Piedmont of Virginia and South Carolina, occurring on soils derived from granitic rock. It may also persist in a slightly altered state due to particularly rigorous mowing regimes. Although the fire or mowing frequency is abnormally high at known sites (on Fort Pickett), this community may be quite similar to some presettlement Piedmont communities. Canopy dominants include <i>Quercus alba, Quercus velutina, Quercus stellata, Quercus falcata, Quercus coccinea, Carya tomentosa, Carya glabra</i>, and <i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i>. The subcanopy may include <i>Cornus florida</i> and <i>Liquidambar styraciflua</i>, but can also be fairly open. Shrubs and woody vines include <i>Rhus copallinum, Rhus michauxii, Rhus glabra, Diospyros virginiana, Ulmus alata, Sassafras albidum, Vaccinium pallidum, Vaccinium stamineum, Hypericum hypericoides ssp. multicaule, Toxicodendron pubescens, Vitis rotundifolia</i>. The herb layer is dominated by <i>Schizachyrium scoparium</i> or sometimes <i>Danthonia sericea</i>, and also includes <i>Desmodium laevigatum, Desmodium marilandicum, Desmodium nuttallii, Desmodium paniculatum, Desmodium perplexum, Desmodium ciliare, Eupatorium hyssopifolium, Eupatorium godfreyanum, Clitoria mariana, Eupatorium rotundifolium var. ovatum, Eupatorium sessilifolium, Eupatorium altissimum, Galactia regularis, Lespedeza procumbens, Dichanthelium dichotomum, Dichanthelium depauperatum, Solidago pinetorum, Solidago rugosa, Solidago nemoralis, Solidago erecta, Helianthus atrorubens, Coreopsis major, Liatris pilosa, Andropogon ternarius, Tephrosia virginiana, Clitoria mariana</i>, and <i>Sorghastrum elliottii</i>. At Cowpens in South Carolina, historical accounts from the Revolutionary War (1781) all describe open fields in the area where this community now sits. Historic descriptions of upstate South Carolina uplands from as late as 1775 suggest woodlands and open areas covered with "grasses and the wild pea-vine, growing as high as a horse's back" were common. These historical accounts suggest that the remnants in South Carolina and Virginia may indeed approximate the vegetation of the upland areas of the Piedmont of 250 years ago.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:32589-{ECFE1AA5-6CCE-4247-8921-535C3696C90B}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
20
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