Name:
Liriodendron tulipifera - Quercus rubra - Fraxinus americana / Asimina triloba / Actaea racemosa Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This community is a mesic rich forest occurring in the Piedmont and lower-elevation Appalachians of Virginia and Maryland and possibly extending into adjacent West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. These forests are dominated by <i>Liriodendron tulipifera</i>, occurring with or codominating with <i>Quercus rubra</i> or <i>Fraxinus americana</i>. This community type occupies fertile, well-drained soils of mesic lower slopes and ravines, often in areas underlain by metabasalt of the Catoctin Formation but also on a variety of igneous metamorphic and metasedimentary rocks. Occasionally, stands occur on well-weathered boulder "streams" that have been deposited in low-elevation ravine bottoms and slope concavities. Other species possible in the overstory include <i>Quercus alba, Quercus montana, Carya ovalis, Carya tomentosa, Carya cordiformis, Ulmus rubra, Nyssa sylvatica, Fagus grandifolia</i>, and <i>Juglans nigra</i>. Subcanopy tree layers contain representatives of the overstory species and <i>Acer rubrum</i>. The lowest tree and shrub layers usually contain small to large colonies of <i>Asimina triloba</i> and <i>Lindera benzoin</i>, along with <i>Cercis canadensis</i> and <i>Cornus florida</i>. The herb layer is usually lush and dense, except where boulder streams prevail or deer grazing is severe. Patch-dominance of ferns and leafy forbs is characteristic; species achieving local abundance in the type include <i>Adiantum pedatum, Amphicarpaea bracteata, Arisaema triphyllum, Asarum canadense, Actaea racemosa, Deparia acrostichoides, Hydrastis canadensis, Phegopteris hexagonoptera, Polystichum acrostichoides</i>, and <i>Uvularia perfoliata</i>. Other constant or characteristic herbaceous species include <i>Botrychium virginianum, Carex laxiflora var. laxiflora, Circaea lutetiana ssp. canadensis, Collinsonia canadensis, Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens, Desmodium nudiflorum, Galearis spectabilis, Galium circaezans, Galium triflorum, Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa, Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum, Phryma leptostachya, Podophyllum peltatum, Sanguinaria canadensis, Sanicula canadensis</i>, and <i>Stellaria pubera</i>. This association is distinguished from more montane rich cove forests by its lower-elevation habitats, shrub layer dominance by <i>Asimina triloba</i> (a low-elevation species in the Mid-Atlantic region), and the absence or unimportance of many common species of montane cove forests, e.g., <i>Acer saccharum, Tilia americana, Caulophyllum thalictroides, Laportea canadensis, Osmorhiza claytonii, Impatiens pallida</i>, and <i>Trillium grandiflorum</i>.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:34833-{5143376D-5514-44BC-86CC-496B34529132}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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