Name:
Quercus palustris - Quercus bicolor / Carex tribuloides - Carex radiata - (Carex squarrosa) Wet Forest
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This association occupies poorly drained backswamps, sloughs, low flats, and depressions in the floodplains of streams and small rivers in the Piedmont of Virginia and Maryland, and mountain valleys of Virginia and West Virginia. It is especially common in the broad, clay-rich floodplains of the northern Virginia Culpeper Basin. Shallow seasonal flooding and hummock-and-hollow microtopography are characteristic of most sites, with typical flooding depth of 20 to 25 cm in the hollows. Soils are typically heavy, white- or orange-mottled clay loams that are strongly acidic with moderately low calcium, high magnesium, and intermediate total base saturation levels. Vegetation is a closed forest with mixed overstory dominance by <i>Quercus palustris, Quercus bicolor, Acer rubrum, Nyssa sylvatica</i>, and <i>Fraxinus pennsylvanica</i>. <i>Ulmus americana, Acer rubrum</i>, and inconstantly <i>Acer negundo</i> are common understory trees. Climbing lianas of <i>Toxicodendron radicans, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Smilax rotundifolia</i>, and <i>Vitis vulpina</i> are plentiful. The shrub layer is typically open to sparse but can include patches or scattered individuals of <i>Carpinus caroliniana, Viburnum prunifolium, Ilex verticillata, Viburnum dentatum, Cornus amomum, Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis</i>, and <i>Lindera benzoin</i>. The herb layer is graminoid-rich with <i>Carex tribuloides, Carex squarrosa, Carex radiata, Cinna arundinacea</i>, and/or <i>Scirpus polyphyllus</i> forming dominance-patches. <i>Saururus cernuus</i> and <i>Carex typhina</i> also occasionally exhibit patch-dominance but are very inconstant in the type. Other characteristic herbs include <i>Arisaema triphyllum, Boehmeria cylindrica, Carex intumescens, Carex lupulina, Carex stipata var. stipata, Galium obtusum, Geum canadense, Glyceria striata, Impatiens capensis, Lycopus virginicus, Leersia virginica, Lysimachia ciliata, Polygonum punctatum, Ranunculus hispidus var. caricetorum, Scutellaria lateriflora, Symphyotrichum lateriflorum</i>, and <i>Symplocarpus foetidus</i>. <i>Lysimachia nummularia, Microstegium vimineum</i>, and <i>Polygonum cespitosum var. longisetum</i> can be problematic invasive exotics in this association.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:35129-{3AB270F3-B156-4A7E-9245-4B89C0EAA786}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
20
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