Name:
Schizachyrium scoparium - Marshallia caespitosa - Nemastylis geminiflora Grassland
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This calcareous prairie community is restricted to the Morse Clay soil series in northwestern Louisiana and adjacent Arkansas. It is known from Bossier, Caddo, Red River, Rapides, and Natchitoches parishes in Louisiana and from Lafayette, Columbia, (and possibly Little River) counties in Arkansas. This community is dominated by grasses and forbs with scattered shrubby vegetation and, occasionally, trees. Typical grasses include <i>Schizachyrium scoparium, Andropogon glomeratus</i>, and <i>Aristida</i> spp. Other common species include <i>Manfreda virginica, Baptisia nuttalliana, Arnoglossum plantagineum, Dalea purpurea, Eryngium yuccifolium, Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa, Monarda fistulosa, Nemastylis geminiflora, Neptunia lutea, Mimosa nuttallii, Panicum virgatum, Parthenium hispidum, Asclepias viridis, Marshallia caespitosa var. signata, Delphinium carolinianum, Echinacea pallida</i>, and <i>Asclepias tuberosa</i>. Typical woody components include <i>Crataegus</i> spp., <i>Pinus echinata, Prunus angustifolia, Ilex decidua</i>, and <i>Cercis canadensis</i>. This community occurs in the Coastal Plain of southwestern Arkansas and western Louisiana and is associated with alluvium deposits in the former Red River floodplain. It occurs over the Morse Clay soil series on historic alluvial deposits, areas that are not part of the active floodplain. Soils are typically alkaline clays, with high shrink-swell character, and gilgai microtopography. The combination of periodic fire, high soil pH, and extreme physical soil properties are thought to be important in maintaining this community in a landscape otherwise dominated by forests (at least historically).
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:32870-{CD177452-6D9A-4C86-85FB-6CE607F6548E}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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